Southwestern Public Health - St Thomas Site - Environmental Health

Public health specialists concerned with environmental factors affecting human health * emergency services on-call in case of urgent public health emergencies such as animal bites and rabies response, urgent health hazards, etc

Protects the health of the community * inspections of safe water (drinking water, public pools and spas, beach management) * food safety inspections (commercial, retail and institutional food premises) * analysis of health hazards * weather and air quality alerts

Investigates complaints and responds to inquiries from the public on a variety of environmental health matters including food safety, health hazards, animal bites and rabies, drinking water and infectious diseases

Resources and applications for migrant housing and special events available

•  
• Animal Bites / Rabies Investigates reports of people bitten or scratched by domestic and wild animals to determine possible exposure to the Rabies virus * reports of bites and/or scratches are required to be reported to the health unit by police, hospital, veterinarian, and others by provincial law * information and resources for health care professional * information to the public in case of a rabid animal in area
•  
• Food Handler Certification One or two-day courses provided throughout the year and exam challenges * certification is valid for five years and accepted across Ontario
•  
• Food Safety Conducts regulatory inspections of all food retail, service and institutional food premises to assess compliance with Food Premises Regulation under the Health Protection and Promotion Act * inspections also may be done to investigate consumer complaints/inquiries/suspected and confirmed illness investigations * monitors food recalls for follow-up advisories
•  
• Safe Water Monitors community drinking water systems, public beaches, public pools and hot tubs and provides information on water quality testing and potential health effects