Public Health and Safety Technician

As a Public Health and Safety Technician, you work for the government, keeping people safe and healthy by upholding health codes and sanitation laws. Public Health and Safety Technicians inspect different places where the public eats, plays, and works, making sure that everything is up to code and that cleanliness is up to state and local standards.

Public Health and Safety Technicians are the ones who inspects restaurants and gives them a grade based on what you see. If things aren’t as they should be, you give suggestions on how they can improve their operations. And if they continue to fail later health inspections, you close them down. To do this job well, Public Health and Safety Technicians need to be aware of both state and local health and safety laws, and keep up to date with changes in those laws.

It’s not just restaurants that you inspect, though. Hotels, campgrounds, swimming pools, and water and sewage treatment plants all need regular checks to ensure that they’re being run correctly. In addition to making sure a place is clean, you also see to it that everything is safe for the workers. This means no hanging electric cords, open flames, or slippery floors.

Aside from basic sanitation and safety checks, you also investigate outbreaks of diseases, injuries at public places like pools or camps, and general public health complaints, like the possibility of lead paint in a building or a noise pollution violation.

You need good communication skills for this job. Not only do have to explain problems to the people working at the places you’re inspecting, but you’ll also be giving reports to those working above you, and keeping detailed records of everything you see and do.