ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SPECIALIST III / EMERGENCY APPOINTMENT HOMELESSNESS

The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health is seeking qualified candidates to fill emergency Environmental Health Specialist III vacancies related to the homelessness crisis.

Under the emergency order, applicants who meet the requirements may be hired for an initial period of up to 90 days, with an opportunity for permanent County employment.

During your initial work period, you will be assessed on your work performance. This assessment will be weighted 100%.

Those who successfully pass the assessment will be considered for permanent appointment to Environmental Health Specialist III.

DEFINITION:

For information about the specific classification standards for this position, please visit the following link: Environmental Health Specialist III

• Conducts periodic specialized technical field inspections and investigations of manufacturing, industrial, or other large scale facilities and institutions in such areas as food and drug, water, sewage control, multiple housing and institutions, garment manufacturing, laundering facilities, public swimming facilities, water pollution control and dairies and milk products plants to determine compliance with relevant public health laws and regulations; completes reports of areas in violation.
• Verifies the proper manufacture, storage, preparation and transportation of foods, drugs, and dairy products ensuring process is free from contamination, adulteration, or mislabeling; investigating suspected food poisonings and other complaints; inspecting such facilities as hotels, motels, jails, mental institutions, multiple housing, and boarding homes for compliance with established environmental standards; approving plans for the construction of public swimming facilities and the installation and maintenance of facility equipment; ensuring that potable water meets Federal, State, local, physical, chemical, and bacteriological standards; approving sewage disposal installations and inspecting water treatment, sewage disposal and water reclamation plants; and conducting specialized testing procedures to ensure that no potentially dangerous connections exist between industrial equipment, industrial processing water and plumbing fixtures whereby toxic chemicals, sewage or contaminated water could be introduced into the domestic water supply system.
• Meets with concerned parties from private industry and companies to provide current information on environmental procedures and public health laws, to discuss correction of deficiencies, to develop a corrective plan, and to obtain compliance through appropriate enforcement action, including quarantine, embargo, condemnation of food or drug products, the issuance of citations, and the confiscation of evidence of violation including equipment, and by providing expert testimony in criminal prosecution.
• Develops and implements staff development and training programs designed to provide Environmental Health staff with current information on environmental health procedures and public health laws, and to improve the quality of environmental health inspections, investigations, and services to the public.
• Performs administrative studies or analyses of public health laws and ordinances by comparing Federal, State, and local codes in a specific area such as food service to determine their impact on environmental health programs and operating methods.
• Provides technical direction to district environmental staff who are inspecting, investigating, and enforcing laws pertaining to environmental health and consumer protection by reviewing work, both administratively and in the field, advising on methods and techniques applied, and determining their effectiveness in enforcing applicable public health laws.
• Conducts special investigations such as food poisoning; or provides support in the resolution of the more difficult investigations.
• Reviews the preparation of evidence for the prosecution of environmental health cases on non-compliance with public health laws and regulations by ensuring that subordinate staff have prepared samples of adulterated foods according to prescribed methods, that the findings of tests conducted by laboratory technicians are available and in the prescribed format and that all material required by city or the District Attorney for prosecution has been provided.
• Act in the absence of the District Chief Environmental Health Specialist, as needed.

You MUST meet the above requirement(s) in order to be appointed to fill any vacancies related to this recruitment.

• For information on how to obtain the certificate as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist from the California State Department of Public Health, call (916) 449-5661 or click on the following link: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CEH/DRSEM/Pages/EMB/REHS/REHS.asp

• Successful applicants for positions that require driving must obtain and present a copy of his/her driving record from the California Department of Motor Vehicles before final appointment. Applicants should not present a copy of their driving history until asked to do so by the hiring department. The County will make an individualized assessment of whether an applicant’s driving history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job. License must not be currently suspended, restricted, or revoked.