Environmental Health Specialist (HHS)

Walworth County•Elkhorn, WI

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This position provides environmental health services to citizens and protects the health and safety of the public from adverse environmental determinants. The position works to ensure access to safe water, food, air, and preventing or abating human health hazards. The position conducts environmental inspections and evaluations while taking action as established by procedure in programs governed by state and local public health statute or ordinances. This is a field-based role.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health or related degree in physical, chemical or biological sciences or related field with a minimum of one year of related experience (internships considered toward experience).
Must have a minimum of 80 hours of laboratory experience, educational experience may qualify.
Proven experience in ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals as well as ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
Knowledge of Trauma Informed Care Principles is essential.
Valid driver license.
Proof of minimum liability auto insurance coverage.
Access to reliable transportation to all assigned work locations daily.
National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) – Incident Command System (ICS) 100, 200 and 700 – within three (3) months of hire.
National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) – Incident Command System (ICS) 300certification required within twelve (12) months of hire.
LHRA or LHI within 12 months of hire
RS/REHS Preferred

Responsibilities

Provide on-going assessment of the county’s environmental issues to manage and implement the county’s environmental health program.
Ensure compliance to policies, procedures and ordinances related to the county’s public health code and Wisconsin Public Health Statutes including Wisconsin Chapters 251, 252, 254, 95, 163, 145 and NR 810 and 812.
Take enforcement actions as established by procedure.
Complete day-to-day operations of the water laboratory, training, certification and scheduling, recordkeeping, and compliance with NR 149 and ATCP 77.
Provide troubleshooting and problem solving for laboratory errors as necessary.
Participate in annuals updates to the laboratory policies to reflect procedures appropriately and participate in quality review of the laboratory on an ongoing basis.
Maintain compliance with responsibilities as outlined in the Transient Non-Community Water System contract with the DNR including sampling, reporting, record keeping and enforcement.
Work in coordination with communicable disease surveillance program.
Investigate complaints, perform inspections and provide written formal reports of violations, that adhere to applicable code, with consultation for corrective action or enforcement on a variety of environmental health issues including but not limited to human health hazards, rabies, asbestos, lead, radon, vector monitoring and pest control in accordance with established laws, regulations and local ordinances.
Follow-up may occur outside of normal business hours with supervisor approval.
Issuance of orders or referrals is conducted in accordance to established protocols.
Conduct recreational water monitoring in support of Walworth County Code and WI Chapters 254 and 251
Participate in emergency preparedness training and activities for responding to public health emergencies in conjunction with local, state and federal emergency response teams.
Lead discussions on environmental recovery as a part of preparedness exercises.
Develop and coordinate internship experiences for students.
Coordinate interactions with area universities to further environmental health research and findings.
With direction, develop and implement expansion of service and quality improvement plans within the environmental health unit on an ongoing basis.
Support all other public health programs and initiatives by providing an environmental health viewpoint.
Evaluate program performance, manage and interpret environmental data, and coordinate community issues concerning environmental health programs.
Participate as directed in other public health initiatives such as community health assessment and improvement, continuous quality improvement, and strategic planning.
Demonstrate commitment to development of skills aligned with the Core Competencies for Public Health staff.
Respond to Public Health emergencies, as needed, including outside regular office hours.
Demonstrate a commitment to county safety and risk management efforts.