Environmental Health Officer (Pollution Control) – Part time

ABOUT THE ROLE

• To work as a member of one of the Environmental Health & Public Protection (EH&PP) Service’s teams (Pollution Control) applying their expert professional and technical skills in the provision of an effective, efficient and responsive Environmental Health & Public Protection Service.
• To act, advise on and where appropriate, take appropriate enforcement action across a range of Environmental Health issues, planning and undertaking an appropriate programme of inspections, other forms of intervention and reactive case-work in key areas of the current EH&PP Service Business Plan.
• To lead and represent the EH&PP Service in a specialist area of expertise (Pollution Control, including Private Rented Sector Housing) within the Environmental Health discipline by keeping abreast of legislation, central Government initiatives and professional best practice and leading on the development of policies and procedures in this area and being responsible for their development and execution within the framework of the EH&PP Service’s Business Plan.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• To plan, complete and manage a pro-active caseload within the terms of appropriate Enforcement Policy, Codes of Practice and other expected protocols and procedures. The caseload will be set within the EH&PP Business Planning process and allocated and overseen by line management and can include a mixture of:-

1. Risk based inspections and other interventions;
2. Special projects and initiatives including managing the environmental impacts from major construction and infrastructure                    projects; and
3. Sampling and surveying.

• To plan, investigate and manage a reactive case-load within the terms of the current PHPP Enforcement Policy, protocols and procedures. The caseload will be allocated to them through the procedures agreed within their respective team and will include the investigation and assessment of a range of Environmental Health issues specialising in Pollution Control. Including assessing applications for out of hours noisy works, Section 61 applications, planning applications, licensing applications, complaints of noise from a variety of sources (construction sites / plant / licensed premises).
• To complete all their case-work by identifying and adopting the most appropriate regulatory response(s) based on the current PHPP Enforcement Policy including:-

1. The drafting and communications of warning letters;
2. The drafting and service of enforcement notices;
3. The closure of premises and/or processes which pose serious risks to safety,
4. health, the public and/or the environment; and
5. The collection of evidence for potential legal proceedings.

Officers will be authorised to make enforcement decisions, largely at their own discretion whilst working within the terms of the PHPP Enforcement Policy, on a range of Environmental Health issues which may have significant impact, financially or otherwise, on individuals, businesses and the City of London Corporation as a regulatory authority. However there may, on rare occasions, be the need for them to refer any enforcement decisions upwards should there be any conflict of interests – e.g. a Member is a partner or director of a company that is involved or are legal advisors to such a company or the case involves a company who is currently a contractor of the CoLC – e.g. cleaning, catering, security or building services

•  To exercise a high level of professional judgement, interpersonal skills and communication in the application and evaluation of enforcement interventions and decisions and in interpretation of the acts, regulations and associated guidance relevant to their work. This will include regular liaison with other local authorities across the UK inc. Primary Authorities, regulatory liaison forums and national enforcement and protection agencies such as the FSA, HSE, EA, Defra, etc for the purpose of exchanging intelligence and sharing current best practice as well as seeking fellow regulators advice and views on more complex issues and cases.
• To effectively communicate a wide variety of legal and technical information, in both oral and written form, and in what can often be complex and sometimes contentious situations in such a way that meets the needs of a diverse audience – e.g. ranging from the owner/operators of small businesses to the directors of multi-national companies – and yet still effectively influences behaviours in positive manner. This would include presenting at Committee(s) on specific area(s) of Environmental Health within the remit of their expertise.
• To supervise and monitor the work allocation and the enforcement action taken within their team by less experienced officers – e.g. Technical Officers, Student EHOs – to ensure that regulatory action remains consistent and co-ordinated with their own.
• To project specific business plan schemes, programmes and projects in accordance with their specialist area of expertise and to ensure their delivery on time and within budget.
• To take part in the Public Protection out of hours rota (standby payments apply).
• To represent and promote the interests of the Service, the City of London Corporation and service customers by participating in and contributing expertise as necessary at meetings with statutory bodies, Central Government and private, public and voluntary agencies as well as departmental and corporate working groups on issues of local, regional and national importance. This will include input into the review, development and implementation of policies and procedures as well as service-based Emergency Planning responses to serious outbreaks – e.g. food poisoning or Legionnaire’s disease – or major incident situations – flooding, fire, terrorist action.
• To maintain accurate records, including the entry of data onto computer systems, and produce detailed correspondence, technical reports, and other written and visual material as required and to assist with the development of our Uniform database system.
• To actively participate in the service development and planning process and in the setting of the key objectives and team-based service targets for ENV and the EH&PP Service business plans.
• To actively participate in the Service’s management and monitoring procedures including the Performance & Development Framework in order to help identify both their own and others training and development needs and to subsequently assist in the implementation of such improvement actions.
• To maintain and continuously develop their professional knowledge in order to meet the demands of the post and to enhance their own personal development.
• To actively seek to implement the City of London’s Occupational Health and Safety Policy in relation to the duties of the post, and at all times give due regard to the health and safety of both themselves and others when carrying out their duties.
• To actively seek to implement the City of London’s Equal Opportunity Policy and the objective to promote equality of opportunity in relation to the duties of the post.
• To undertake any other duties that may reasonably be requested appropriate to the grade.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

Professional Qualifications / Relevant Education & Training

• Bachelor of Science or Master of Science degree in Environmental Health or similar from a course approved by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) Registered with the EHO Registration Board (EHORB) so as to be able to practice professionally as an Environmental Health Officer in the UK.
• Experience of working in the field of Pollution Control (noise) including minimising environmental impacts from construction activities and infrastructure projects.
• Experience working in the field of Private Sector Housing enforcement.
• Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Office, GIS, technical software. Ability to lead on the analysis of numerical data and the synthesis of data and research from a wide variety of sources and the ability to make strategic recommendations based on these.
• Excellent written skills with the ability to write technical guidance and processes into standard English and write updates, articles, analytical reports and briefings.
• Excellent relationship management skills to build, maintain and expand relationships with key partners including strong diplomacy in complaint handling.

Experience Required

• Significant experience required in the field of environmental health (Pollution Control) in the specific field of noise control (construction, licensed premises, plant and ventilation systems).
• Responding to planning and licensing applications including setting conditions, making objections and representations, and attendance at committees.
• Experience working in the field of Private Sector Housing enforcement to include HHSRS assessments.
• Excellent communication skills, particularly oral, presentational and written and experience in providing advice and information to a wide variety of stakeholders including both business and the general public.
• Experience of chairing meetings, report writing and giving presentations.
• A thorough understanding of the role of the regulatory services normally covered by local authorities.
• Experience of involvement and liaison with other professional institutions and outside bodies – e.g. CIEH, IOA, FSA, HSE, DEFRA, Environment Agency,MHCLG, UKHSA.
• Experience of drafting and serving enforcement notices and recommending legal proceedings.

Other Relevant Information

• Experience of mid and high rise fire inspections and enforcement.
• Due to the nature of the work it may be necessary to undertake some duties outside of core working hours.
• Works under the general supervision of the Pollution Control Manager but uses discretion in identifying and resolving complex problems determining when issues should be escalated to a higher level.
• Plans own work to meet given objectives and processes in a fast paced and dynamic environment.
• Desirable to hold a suitable post-graduate qualification in acoustics or related environmental field e.g. Diploma in Acoustics.
• Desirable to have an interest in the environment and innovation in relation to Pollution Control.
• Knowledge and ability to lead on the development and implementation of new and innovative ways of working across organisational and Borough boundaries.
• Desirable to be a Chartered Member of the CIEH.
• Desirable to have experience in Contaminated Land issues.

To view the full job description, please click here –>Job Description and Person Specification OENV1349