Guest Column – Public Health Inspectors: Looking Out for People and Our Planet

Pete Fisher
2 years ago
• Categories: News

By Carol Chan
Public Health Inspector
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) impact our everyday lives – and I’m proud to be one serving this community.

PHIs are among the unsung heroes of public health, being the first line of defense against infectious diseases and injury thanks to our focus on prevention and safety promotion.

Any public location that serves food, provides a personal care service, or has a public pool or whirlpool is visited by myself or one of my 15 PHI colleagues at the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit. Every single one of these establishments must pass our PHI’s thorough safety inspections to continue operating. Public Health Inspectors are also responsible for monitoring environmental health and ensuring human interactions with nature stay safe, for both people and the planet.

If it sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is. From childcare to long term care facilities, from fine dining restaurants to food banks, from tattoo parlors to funeral homes, when our Public Health Inspectors aren’t hosting food handler courses or conducting animal bite investigations, we are going to other great extents to ensure YOU can go about life safely.

The work of Public Health Inspector’s often gets overlooked.

In the world of public health, PHIs are usually playing offence.

Take water, for example. Our Public Health Inspectors regularly collect bacteriological water samples from 98 public pools, 15 public whirlpools and 46 local beaches. We also carry out 650 small drinking water system inspections in HKPR District Health Unit areas that serve restaurants, arenas, churches, seasonal trailer parks, summer camps, migrant farm worker accommodations and other public facilities.

All of our recent inspection results for public pools and whirlpools, personal care settings and food premises are available for you to view online at hkprcheckinspection.ca.

Climate change means Public Health Inspectors are more important than ever.

In addition to ensuring you can enjoy public spaces and know that your well water is safe for drinking, PHIs monitor for ‘vector-borne’ diseases in the area. ‘Vectors’ are insects or animals that transmit disease to other animals or humans. For example, mosquitos can spread West Nile Virus, ticks can spread Lyme Disease and bats can spread rabies.

Our Public Health Inspectors complete tick-dragging and mosquito trapping throughout the year to monitor for Lyme Disease and West Nile virus activity in the area. These proactive measures come with helpful advice on how the public can protect themselves from vectors borne illness. PHIs are also the public health professionals who investigate animal bite incidents and respond to possible rabies exposure. In these instances, Public Health Inspectors complete a full investigation to ensure rabid animals don’t pose further risk to people, pets and other animals.

Environmental changes caused by the climate crisis are expected to lead to the emergence of more infectious diseases in Canada. For instance, increased flooding and warmer temperature can create more breeding ground for mosquitoes, hence more vectors borne illness. This makes our work as Public Health Inspectors even more valuable than ever.

Because of PHI’s work, life is not a string of infectious diseases, foodborne illnesses, and waterborne hazards. That’s why I’m proud to be a Public Health Inspector.

Next time you complete your #HKPRBeachCheck, see a #YellowRibbonDog or spray on DEET before enjoying a nature walk, please know that your local HKPR Public Health Inspector has your back.

To learn more, visit the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors.