About Health Inspectors
Most people think of a dirty restaurant, an unsanitary swimming pool or some other disgusting visual when they think of a health inspector. However, these scenarios are not the only ones that health inspectors deal with during their workday. This job requires a very detail-oriented person, with good written and oral communications skills. A health inspector must be objective and professional.
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Significance
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From the outside looking in, being a health inspector is anything but glamorous. However, they are responsible for showing the public what cannot be seen from the outside. Health inspectors are public employees who deal with many different environments and many different people to insure the safety and sanitary conditions of the public as a whole.
Function
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When a health inspector visits your favorite restaurant, they are looking for what the restaurant has to say for itself, versus what an owner, a manager or any other kind of gatekeeper has to say. Hence the reason why most health inspections are conducted without any prior notice.
Health inspectors will often spend a couple of hours at each establishment. They are not only there to observe how food is being handled and processed, but they are also there to check employees' hygiene procedures and practices. They will insure that food is stored properly to prevent contamination. In addition, health inspectors will ask many questions, and the inquiries will not only be posed to management--some employees will have to answers questions, as well.
Not all inspections are routine, as some inspections are done to investigate a complaint.
Health inspectors are not only around to keep our favorite restaurants on their toes, but they are also around to dip their toes into our pools, lakes and oceans to insure they are safe. -
Features
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Health inspectors do not spend their days bouncing from diners to restaurants; they also check the safety of food processing plants, slaughterhouses, hotels and motels, care facilities, hospitals, schools, clubs and any other places that are open to the public. And in the event there is some contagious unexplainable outbreak, health inspectors can work very long hours.
Misconceptions
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Becoming a health inspector is not necessarily an easy career path to take. Some health inspectors have degrees in environmental health or public health and safety, while others have completed a community college degree program in food science or chemistry. Training is provided after receiving a degree, and then they are tested on what they have learned.
Benefits
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Being a health inspector takes passion and a special kind of person that can withstand the many temptations of the job--such as attempted bribes from restaurant owners. Most inspectors find their career of insuring the safety of the public as being very rewarding.
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