A Day in the Life: Environmental Health Inspector

Last updated 10 months ago

1 question

Instructions

Read through a Day in the Life of your new job. Use the word bank to drag and drop the missing words into the correct spot to complete the worksheet.

Required

You arrive at the public health department at 8:30 am, greeting colleagues as you climb the stairs to your office. You spend an hour responding to various complaints from citizens, reviewing the reports you have yet to submit, and going over the day’s schedule. There are several routine 1. ______________________  scheduled for today, so you drive to the first site, a fancy restaurant downtown. You introduce yourself to the restaurant owner and pull out a clipboard with a long 2. ______________________  of safety and health requirements. You scan the dining area to assess its cleanliness. In the kitchen, you inspect the refrigeration equipment, check the temperature of the heated food with a thermometer, and test the cleaning solution. You observe that the chefs are handling the food correctly, and then demonstrate the proper hand-washing technique for restaurant workers. The owner is relieved to hear that the restaurant has passed the inspection! However, you have a few recommendations for updating the refrigerators and ensuring that the cutlery is properly sanitized before being used in the dining area. You will write up a detailed report of the inspection when you return to the public health department. Next, you drive to an apartment complex to follow up on a tenant’s complaint about mold in the building. You search her residence for signs of mold, and spot a patch of black dots on the bathroom ceiling. You scrape a sample of the offending gunk for the lab technicians to 3. ______________________ , and then interview the woman about her health history. Your inspection report will be forwarded to the property manager, who will have to comply with your recommendations for removing the mold or risk a citation and a possible court appearance. You don’t like being perceived as the enemy in these situations, but protecting a citizen’s health and safety is always your first priority. You stop to eat lunch at a diner that you know has recently passed its inspection. Even on break, you find yourself constantly checking that all building 4. ______________________  are up to the public health department’s standards! Back at the office, you prepare to write the morning’s reports. Just as you turn on the computer, you receive an urgent call about a toxic fume leak in a factory. Sometimes you must cancel appointments to deal with a time-sensitive health emergency. You quickly gather your testing equipment and protective gear, and drive to the address. The factory employees have already evacuated the building, which has minimized their 5. ______________________  to any dangerous substances. You cautiously enter the factory and test the air quality. You scan the room for possible fume sources and notice that a pipe used to transfer hazardous waste has ruptured. You find the leak, call the emergency services team to contain the fumes, and inform the foreperson that the factory will remain closed until further testing confirms it is not contaminated. You collect samples to bring back to the lab, and then record statements from several factory workers about the cause of the accident. You return to your office at 5:00 pm and start typing up the day’s reports. The emergency call threw off the afternoon’s scheduled inspections, but a quick response from a health department representative is crucial when dealing with these types of accidents. Your unfinished 6. ______________________  will have to wait until tomorrow. At 7:00 pm, you are giving a presentation to the mobile food vendors’ association about proper food storage. You enjoy educating people on safety and health issues—almost as much as responding to unexpected emergencies!