Occupational Health and Safety Specialist (707596)

Food & Facilities Program

Environmental Specialist II  (Certified Environmental Health Professional) highly Desired.

Duties: Performs inspections of food service operations located at FDOH regulated facilities and other food service operations as required by Florida Statues and local laws or ordinances.

Certification requirements per Florida Statute: The position requires certification as an environmental health professional (CEHP) in the area of Food Hygiene.  The certification requirements are in accordance with Chapter 381.0101 F.S. requires environmental health professional certification to perform work in the food protection program within six (6) months after employment, and thereafter, maintain this certification while employed in the food protection program.  Food hygiene inspections cannot be completed until the training and certification is obtained.

Employee Training and Standardization Employees working in the Environmental Health area of Onsite Sewage and Disposal Systems are required to obtain and maintain certification, in accordance with s. 381.0101, FS and Chapter 64E-18, F.A.C.

a. New and transfer CHD staff in the onsite sewage program should have a basic level of programmatic on-the-job training. On-the-job training at the CHD is recommended to be completed within 90 days of hire or transfer, and should include:

(1) 40 hours of study on programmatic regulatory requirements (i.e., pertinent programmatic statutes, rules and the program manual).

(2) Plan Review - New employees shall jointly process, with certified staff, at least five application reviews (three of which shall be new systems and two repairs) prior to being assigned any project for review. After completing the joint processing training, the new employee shall be assigned no less than 10 permits (five New and five Repair) to process during the training period. The drafted permits shall be reviewed and scored by the supervisor, in accordance with the program evaluation tool. A permit scoring less than 95 percent shall be noted, the new employee coached, and a replacement permit assigned.

(3) Field Training - New employees shall jointly participate, with certified staff, in at least 10 system inspections reviews (three New, three Repairs, two ATU/PBTS, two Site Evaluations; where two ATU/PBTSs are not available for inspection review, increase new to five) prior to being assigned any inspections. After completing the joint inspection training, the new employee shall be assigned no less than five permits (three New and two Repairs) to process during the training period. The inspections shall be under the direction and scored by the supervisor in accordance with the program evaluation tool. An inspection scoring less than 95 percent shall be noted, the new employee coached, and a replacement inspection assigned. (See Attachment 2)

(4) EHD Training - New employees shall jointly participate with the data entry requirements of EHD, with certified staff, in at least

30 projects (10 - Permits, 10 - Inspections, 10 - Complaints) prior to being assigned any data entry tasks. After completing the joint training, the new employee shall be given no less than nine assignments (three Permits, three Inspections, three Complaints) to process during the training period. The records shall be under the direction and scored by the supervisor in accordance with the program evaluation tool. Any record scoring less than 95 percent shall be noted, the new employee coached, and a replacement record assigned.

(5) New employees shall attend the Accelerated Certification Training (ACT) course and pass all course exams within six months of hire or transfer into the program, unless course scheduling conflicts with the training period. Prior to attending the ACT, staff new to the onsite program shall have accompanied a staff member, who is an experienced CEHP in onsite, for hands on training on how to use the field equipment properly and observe various onsite inspections and site evaluation techniques. New staff shall arrive at the training center having had some field training locally and with their own equipment for use during the ACT hand-on training portion.

To document and monitor completion of the on-the-job trainings, staff should use the Department's TRAIN Florida system.

b. Each employee, certified in the OSTDS program, must acknowledge, by their signature, they have received a copy of the Department's approved methodology for conducting site evaluations and system inspections, using an attestation form provided by the Onsite Sewage Program office. Specific training on the Department's approved methodology for conducting site evaluations and system inspections, in the OSTDS program, is provided in the Accelerated Certification Training. The original copy of the attestation shall be sent to the Department's Certification Coordinator, in the Facility Programs Section, for inclusion in the employee's certification file. A copy will be sent to the employee's supervisor for inclusion in the employee's personnel file, and a second copy to the employee for the employee's personal files.

CHDs shall, for employee performance evaluations, evaluate field staff using the Field Standardization Tools (See Attachment 7) to ensure all field staff in the OSTDS program continues to employ the Department's approved methodology for conducting site evaluations and system inspections and have the equipment necessary to perform program activities. Standardization shall be conducted using the approved techniques, methodology and programmatic tools as directed by the OSP.

Annual field standardizations should be conducted by program supervisors or their OSTDS Certified designee, in conjunction with supervisor/designee and employee ride-along. A copy of the completed field standardization form (See Attachment 7) should be included in the employee's personnel file. Each employee personnel file is required to contain a completed field standardization form for each year the employee worked in the program.

Annual field standardizations ensure field staff compliance with use of approved methodologies and will help supervisors identify potential field staff training needs.

Due to the likelihood of ongoing substantive changes to the onsite sewage program, all DOH-CHD staff with professional job duties in the program should attend the accelerated certification training at least once every six years. Attendance every six years is recommended for continuing education purposes and does not require a recertification examination.

Per Environmental Health Manual Chapter Z.B.2., uncertified persons are prohibited from performing independent inspections and evaluations prior to becoming certified. Certified persons in the onsite sewage program are prohibited from signing and approving inspection reports conducted by uncertified persons