Environmental health professionals in developed countries

Abstract

© 2020, Thai Society of Higher Eduation Institutes on Environment. All rights reserved. An environmental health professional performs numerous job functions that have an impact on everyone’s health and lifestyle. Their work is to prevent death and illness from environmentally related disease and injury. Moreover, the quality and safety of their air, food, water, and the infrastructure that supports vital environmental health services are one of the indicators separated many developed countries from undeveloped countries. This paper, environmental health professional in developed countries including the United State of America, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia were discussed. It was revealed that the Registration of Environmental Health Specialist/Sanitarians is a process that certifies the applicant has been found by the certifying body of each state/country to meet the qualifications to protect environmental health. The result of these reviews indicates that competencies of Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) of all selected developed countries are focused on facility and system inspections and compliance and enforcement of environmental health laws. Moreover, risk assessment and management, investigation, monitor and control, and promoting environmental and public health awareness are appeared in some countries. Thus, the experiences in selected developed countries for certification of Environmental Health Specialist or sanitarian could be used as a guideline for environmental health professional development in other countries.