Polk EHS 1 , 2, or 3

Georgia Department of Public Health•Cedartown (Polk County Health Department), GA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is seeking to fill an Environmental Health Specialist position at the Polk County Environmental Health Department in Cedartown, Georgia. This is an unclassified, full-time position working 40 hours per week. The role involves assisting in performing inspections, investigations, and technical reviews for environmental health programs, ensuring compliance with codes and regulations, and responding to public inquiries and emergencies. The department is committed to protecting lives and promoting healthy lifestyles through disease prevention, injury and disability reduction, and disaster preparedness and response.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, which includes the completion of 27 semester or 40 quarter hours in laboratory sciences (e.g., chemistry, biology, geology, physics, etc.).
Must be within a reasonable commuting distance.

Responsibilities

Under supervision, assists in performing inspections, interviews, and technical reviews for an environmental health program in a public health department.
Assists in investigating complaints and recommending enforcement action as necessary.
Assists with preparation sampling plans and collects samples in accordance with established procedures.
Conducts on-site inspections at assigned facilities to determine compliance with environmental health codes in accordance with established procedures.
Performs follow-up inspections as required to monitor correction of non-compliance deficiencies in accordance with established procedures.
Informs facility officials of inspection results and any corrective measures needed for achieving compliance in a timely manner.
Conducts investigations into possible causes of illnesses based on accepted public health procedures and completes applicable reports in a timely manner.
Prepares sampling plan and collects samples in accordance with established environmental health procedures.
Calibrates equipment as necessary.
Notifies supervisor immediately when imminent health hazards are found.
Learns to interpret regulatory issues, technical Issues, and analytical data to document compliance.
Reviews permit applications; drafts, modifies and issues permits in accordance with established procedures.
Reviews field implementation of plans to ensure compliance with the environmental health laws, rules and regulations in accordance with established procedures.
Assists in the completion of permit applications and other correspondences as needed.
Conducts field evaluations according to established procedures.
Learns to investigate complaints, provides environmental education and technical assistance.
Responds to complaints and requests for service from the public in a professional and courteous and timely manner.
Notifies the complainant of investigation results in a timely manner.
Promptly refers individuals to other appropriate agencies or resources for problem solutions.
Learns to perform inspections, interviews, technical reviews and recommends enforcement actions as needed.
Gathers evidence and initiates appropriate enforcement action to bring a non-compliance facility/property into compliance in an expeditious manner.
Participates in negotiations with the regulated community to resolve non-compliance issues as required.
Monitors the progress of compliance schedules, maintains accurate status records and initiates enforcement actions as the situation dictates.
Provides factual testimony in formal legal proceedings; acts as a witness, provides case support to the legal community and provides technical and regulatory support for criminal or civil investigations as required.
Learns to plan and conduct facility audits and inspections.
Assists in conducting public health educational activities at schools, facilities, professional association meetings and for individuals when requested.
Participates in public hearings and meetings to provide technical expertise regarding environmental health issues as required.
Provides ongoing consultation to the public, regulated community and enforcement personnel regarding the intent of environmental health codes.
Assists in the administration and coordination of certification programs as required.
Assists with the revision of environmental health rules and regulations according to established guidelines.
Learns to review permit applications; drafts, modifies and issues permits in accordance with the rules, regulations and established procedures.
Responds to environmental health emergencies and conducts safety evaluations according to established guidelines.
Evaluates environmental health and safety risks at controlled and uncontrolled sites and selects a level of safety for conducting required work.
Maintains 24-hour capability of responding to environmental health emergencies.
Maintains and performs timely updates to emergency response plans.
Utilizes assessment models to determine potential risk and makes protective action recommendations.
Reports and documents immediately any exposures to hazardous and unsafe conditions.
Provides information to the public, regulated community, and enforcement officers regarding the environmental laws and regulations.
Assists with data collection and evaluation according to established procedures.
Performs injury prevention activities in accordance with acceptable health and safety practices.
Monitors and assesses progress and acceptability of programs according to established procedures.
Completes required forms and reports according to local protocols and standards of promptness.
Manages equipment and supply inventories to conduct monitoring and analytical procedures as needed.
Assists with generating periodic statistical reports used to evaluate program's effectiveness and determine the performance of individual facilities.
Assist with managing multiple data bases and prepares information or special reports as requested by the federal, state and local government or other interested parties.
Prepares and issues compliance letters and other general correspondence as required.
Reviews permit requirements and regulations in order to ensure compliance with state and federal environmental laws.
Participates in unit, agency and state meetings as required to maintain knowledge of environmental health programs.
Reads, interprets, communicates and applies information disseminated from policy directives.
Reads and evaluates professional literature as appropriate to maintain current knowledge of environmental health issues.
Incorporates knowledge of pertinent new trends and developments into the performance of other responsibilities.
Participates in professional development training to stay current with technologies and environmental health laws and regulations.