Author: Peacock Carter

Although no official nationwide statistics are yet available, it appears to have been well received by owners of premises, their staff and their customers.

Initial reports from EHOs suggest that, both in the commercial sector and among the public, there has been overwhelming compliance, with only a handful of minor issues.

REHIS President, John Stirling says thorough preparation in advance of the ban has paid dividends: “The lead-in time gave everyone a chance to get used to the prospect of a ban and that, combined with the reasonable approach by enforcement officers, means this first month has gone very smoothly.

“Co-operation by all concerned has been the key, and we congratulate everyone for playing their part. Pubs and bars were one area where many people anticipated problems but that has not been our experience, so particular credit is due to the Licensed Trade for helping to introduce this most important piece of environmental health legislation.”

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Martin Keeley (pictured), a Chartered Environmental Health Officer working for East Dunbartonshire Council, has won the competition open to all members to be nominated for a delegate’s place at the 9th World Congress in Environmental Health being held in Dublin in June of this year. Martin will accompany the two official delegates travelling, namely the President, John Stirling and the Senior Vice President, Bernard Forteath.

The REHIS Council had decided to repeat the idea of sending a delegate to the Congress, from among the membership by inviting submissions to be made on why they should be chosen.

The previous winner was Drew Hall of Inverclyde Council, who got to attend the event when it was held two years ago in Durban, South Africa.

As part of the conditions for participating, the winner has to agree to provide a written report to appear in the REHIS journal.

Dr David Old has completed his two-year independent report commissioned by REHIS on the Environmental Health profession in Scotland. His Project Steering Group (PSG) recommends five priority actions and says that everyone concerned must act with urgency.

The five priority actions are listed below. For the full report and appendices, see the Members’ Library.

Pictured at the handover of the report are (from l to r) Mike Halls, PSG Secretary, John Stirling, President, Dr David Old, PSG Chairman, Bernard Forteath, Senior Vice President and Robert Howe, Junior Vice President.

Applications are invited for a PhD scholarship to work on a project entitled Enhancing human health through improved water quality. Specifically the successful applicant will work on the development of a Microbial Risk Assessment model to monitor the dispersion, transport and potential human exposure to waterborne hazards including viruses and bacteria. The project is conducted in conjunction with the National University of Ireland, Galway and is funded by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Development Plan under the ERTDI programme. For full details, see Members Library.

Strathclyde University have announced that they will be offering an MSc in Environmental Health from September 2006. This will be a one year full-time course which will provide the underpinning academic knowledge which will allow the student to go onto train as an Environmental Health Officer. This course would be ideal for applicants with a life science degree. To become an Environmental Health Officer the student also requires to complete the usual 48 weeks of practical training with a Scottish Local Authority before sitting the REHIS
professional examination.

Anyone interested in the MSc course should contact Dr Raymond Wong, academic selector, Strathclyde University, Raymond.wong@strath.ac.uk. Any students enrolled in the MSc course must register with REHIS as soon as they obtain a practical training.
placement.

Donations and the proceeds from a raffle at the REHIS Annual Conference Dinner raised the sum of £358. This has been presented to Tracy Morse (née Thomson), a Scottish EHO working on a project with orphans near Blantyre, Malawi. Tracy said ‘This is great news. With this money I can buy mosquito nets for 100 orphans and 100 vulnerable individuals and also for the volunteers who assist at the centre (there are 30 of them that help out on a rota). It would make a big difference to
those families especially as we are in the malaria season now.

If there is remaining money it can be used to buy waterguard which is a chlorine based water treatment for household containers. Once again it is the time of year for diarrhoeal disease prevalence and can make a big difference. We appreciate the support!’

The Association of Public Health Inspectors of Cyprus (APHIC) and REHIS have signed a ‘twinning’ agreement leading to closer co-operation on international Environmental Health matters. The invitation to twin came from Cyprus last year with the suggestion that the relationship be formalised. A delegation, led by the President, John Stirling, travelled to Cyprus for the signing ceremony, which was held in Nicosia on 24 February, in the presence of the Cypriot Government Health Minister. John Stirling stated ” I am delighted that we have taken this step to formalise our already close working relationship. Cyprus has recently been welcomed into the European Union and this partnership will ensure that the Profession’s views are heard more effectively when it comes to the protection and improvement of public health on Cyprus and across the EU Member States. One positive spin-off for members is that work exchange programmes between the two countries will be encouraged as a result.

A new elementary training course, organised jointly by REHIS and a company called Tactics Management, has been launched. It is designed for employers who have their workers’ safety in mind.

For further details, please see the Training News
page.

John Summers, a former President of REHIS, has been awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours Lists. John is now Chief Executive with Keep Scotland Beautiful. In response to his award, John stated: “I am absolutely delighted, surprised
and honoured to be awarded an OBE for services to the environment. This award is testimony to all the hard work of my Keep Scotland Beautiful colleagues, directors and supporters in working to make Scotland a better place in which to live and work. It is due recognition that environmental issues are really important to the prosperity of Scotland”

Our partner organisation in Denmark, the FMK, has a number of opportunities for work exchange for environmental health officers interested in pollution control.

Three members of the Institute have been conferred with the award of Fellowship at the annual conference in Perth. They were Dr Kofi Aidoo, a lecturer in food science at Glasgow Caledonian University, John Sleith, Past President of REHIS and presently Food and Safety Regulation Manager with Falkirk Council and Colin Wallace, Service Manager with South Ayrshire Council. The award of Fellowship is made for outstanding contribution to the work of the Institute.

Pictured here are (l to r) John Sleith, Kofi Aidoo, outgoing REHIS President Keith McNamara and Colin Wallace.

John Stirling has taken over the reins of the REHIS Presidency for the next year from Keith McNamara. The handover of the chain of office took place at the Institute’s annual general meeting in November , 2005 at the Perth Concert Hall.