Author: Peacock Carter

Young Samanyika has been appointed as an Honorary Vice-President of the Institute. Young is President of the Malawi Environmental Health Association (MEHA) and is the Principal Environmental Health Officer at the Ministry of Health in Malawi.  MEHA is one of the Institute’s international partners. Young has visited Scotland on two occasions both facilitated by REHIS and he presented a paper at the Institute’s Environmental Health Update event in 2009.  MEHA, under the Presidency of Young, has progressed the development of the Environmental Health Service and has revitalised the role of MEHA in Malawi.  The latter includes the introduction of CPD for members.  Honorary Vice-President appointments are for periods of up to three years and can be extended by the Council.

George Fairgrieve, a long standing member and Fellow of the Institute, has rounded off an eventful 2012 by being awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List. Prior to his retirement as Food and Safety Manager with East Lothian Council, after 42 years of service, in August George stood down as the Chairman of the Scottish Food Law Enforcement Committee (SFELC). During his tenure as SFELC Chairman George oversaw the development and strengthening of the committee and it is now widely respected and envied across the UK . SFELC is a true liaison committee with all food sectors represented and contributing to formulation of workable policy, good guidance and an excellent sounding board for all food issues. George was also elected to the Institute’s Council at its Annual General Meeting in November. The Institute offers its hearty congratulations to George and its best wishes to him and to his family.

Tom Bell

Chief Executive

The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland

The President, members of Council and members of staff at REHIS wish everyone in the Scottish and International environmental health community a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Dates for your 2013 diary.

16/17 May THE GLYNHILL HOTEL, RENFREW

The REHIS Annual Conference is the principal Environmental Health event to take place in Scotland.

It provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on current and future approaches to protecting and improving the health of the Scottish people and to renew friendships and make new ones. Conference 2013 will be held at the Glynhill Hotel (www.glynhill.com), Renfrew. The hotel is well served by public transport and a taxi from Paisley Gilmour Street station takes a matter of minutes.

The conference programme will be launched early in the New Year.

The photographs taken at the Annual Awards Ceremony 2012 are now available to view and download at the following link https:/photographs-rehis-events

One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of the REHIS Meritorious Endeavours in Environmental Health Award.

The recipient of the Award for 2012 is Peter Midgley. Peter is a long-standing member of the Institute and a Chartered Environmental Health Officer. He is Head of the Enforcement Branch of the Food Standards Agency Scotland. The award recognises Peter’s contribution to the protection of public health in Scotland over many years, his support of the Institute’s objectives and his support for the important role that the Environmental Health Profession plays in the improvement and protectionof public health in Scotland.

The November 2012 edition of the REHIS e-Newsletter ‘News for Public Health Professionals’ has been uploaded to this website and is accessible from a dedicated public access portal to the right of this news item.

If you wish to feature any Environmental Health or Public Health initiative, event or activity in the REHIS Newsletter, please contact Jim Thomson, Policy/Professional Development Officer, The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, 19 Torphichen Street, Edinburgh, tel: 0131 229 2968 or jt@

The University of the West of Scotland (UWS) officially launched its new BSc (Hons) Environmental Health degree course at its Paisley Campus on Friday 26 October 2012. The course is accredited by the Institute.

Robert Howe, Director of Professional Development, Professor Seamus McDaid CBE, Principal and Vice Chancellor of UWS. 

Photo: Richard Thacker, Professor Seamus McDaid CBE and Robert Howe at the launch

Environmental Health Update and Annual General Meeting Friday 16 November 2012

Apex International Hotel, Edinburgh

REHIS will present its annual free to members Environmental Health Update event in Edinburgh on the morning of Friday 16 November. Five excellent speakers will present papers on  the Airdrie to Bathgate Railway Line – Environmental Health Aspects, Bottled Water and the Environment – an Industry Perspective, Better Regulation – a Business Perspective, the new REHIS Intermediate Level Course on the Control of Cross Contamination in Food Premises and Legionella Management

The programme and booking form are attached for downloading.The AGM will take place at 2pm at the same venue and members are encouraged to attend.

One of the new features of the new website is the addition of  Members’ and  Community Trainers’ forums. Each group has its own separate area – Members can access their forum by clicking on the Members tab and then “Forums” and the Community Trainers by clicking on the Community Training tab and then “Trainers resources” and then “Trainers forum”

These forums are intended to aid discussion on matters of interest to each group and to get opinions on environmental health and training issues.

Major features of the new REHIS Website are the Member and Trainer forums. These are password protected areas where members and trainers can start discussions and post messages.

The Members forum can be accessed after logging in by clicking on the Members tab  and then choosing Forums.  The Trainers forum can be accessed after logging in by clicking on the Qualifications for Communities tab and then choosing Trainers Resources and then Trainers Forum.

You can then pick a forum that interests you and join in the discussion. If you wish you can also add new topics in your chosen forum.

Why don’t you have a look now and see if anything interests you, if not then you can always start your own discussion topic.

If you want a new forum started then contact us at contact@

Only slow progress is being made in improving children’s diets in Scotland, according to a dietary survey undertaken on behalf of the Food Standards Agency in Scotland.

According to the research, carried out by the University of Aberdeen, Scotcen and the University of Hertfordshire, children’s intake of saturated fats and added sugars continues to be considerably higher than the Scottish Dietary Goals.

The diets of 1,500 children aged 3-16 years living in Scotland were monitored as part of the research, with fieldwork undertaken during June to November 2010. Children’s school-day purchasing habits were also examined. The survey follows a 2006 study into sugar intake among children.

Click on the link below for more information.

http://www.food.gov.uk/scotland/news-updates/news/2012/oct/scot-eat#.UHPZeOT7LBM

For the final report click on the link below.

http://foodbase.org.uk/results.php?f_report_id=777

Graham Robertson scaled the heights of Mount Kilimanjaro on Thursday 4 October 2012 at 8.00 AM. He undertook the ‘Machame’ Route on Kilimanjaro over 6 days to raise money for Alzheimer Scotland in memory of his Mother, Sheila, who suffered from the disease in her final years, passing away in February 2010. Graham and his brother Mark wanted to do something for Alzheimer Scotland to show thanks for their support to Mum over her final years. The money raised is going directly to the specialist Alzheimer dementia centre set up in Chalmers Hospital, Banff to help sufferers across the local Turriff and Banff area so we’re delighted to have raised a fantastic £11,400 to date, so a big thank you to all those who have supported us.

The Machame trek itself was the toughest of the treks available on Kilimanjaro so I was delighted to have succeeded along with 13 others in the group. Graham says it’s hard to explain in words what different emotions you go through whilst on the trek but I was delighted to reach the summit and I’ve met some very special people along the way. The whole group were a great support to each other which is essential in such extreme conditions. We set off at 12 midnight on the summit trek after a short 3-hour break at our Barafu Camp so we managed to see sunrise at Stella point (5,739 metres) before proceeding to Uhuru Peak at 5,986 metres.

Graham is a member of the REHIS Council and the Council’s adviser on occupational health and safety issues.

Anyone still wishing to support Graham can do so by sponsoring him in person or donating on-line at the just giving site:

http://www.justgiving.com/GMKilimanjaroTrek