Welcome to the June newsletter.
The Institute was pleased to welcome members from the European Federation of Environmental Health, which is a geographical group reporting to the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH), to the office on 14 and 15 May for a series of meetings and networking. The meetings, chaired by Mr Henning Hansen, Denmark and secretary, Louise Manson (REHIS), were held in the Forteath Room, with Bernard Forteath in attendance who is a Past President of the IFEH. Also in attendance was the very recently appointed IFEH President Dr Bruno Cvetkovic (Croatia).
The King’s Birthday Honours List, 2024
The Institute was delighted to see John M Beveridge, REHIS Fellow and Past President, recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List. He has been awarded an MBE for his efforts in paddle steamer preservation. John is the founder of the Loch Lomond Steamship Company and without John, the Maid of the Loch would have been scrapped and not where she is today on Loch Lomond.
(Taken from Facebook, Paddle Steamer Preservation Society)
REHIS Council Meeting
The Institute’s elected Council met on Saturday 1 June, where along with their standard Institute business, the President chaired a useful discussion on how to attract more people to the Environmental Profession, and how to attract more Environmental Health Officers in Scotland to be part of their professional Institute. A healthy and growing REHIS membership allows the work of the Institute to continue to thrive and each Council member agreed that this should be communicated to their fellow colleagues and through as many Environmental Health channels as possible.
The Institute is continuing to speak with the University of West of Scotland in the hope that first-year entrants can be accepted to the BSc Hons in Environmental Health with Professional Practice course from 2025. The Institute is also in positive discussions with Abertay University about a possible Master’s Degree in Environmental Health. We will continue to keep members updated on this.
Professional Examinations
Plans are well underway for the next diet of professional interviews which are being held from 1 October 2024 at the Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline. Candidates intending to present for interviews in relation to the REHIS Diploma in Environmental Health at this diet must have their portfolio submitted by 9 July 2024. Candidates intending to present for qualifications awarded by the SFSORB must have the required case study and/or reports submitted by 20 August 2024.
The Institute is always happy to welcome volunteers coming forward for the position of examiner or assessor at the Professional Exams to support the next generation of Environmental Health Officers, and Food Safety Officers. For anyone interested please contact the Institute.
Maintaining Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Members are reminded that CPD needn’t involve attending an event ‘in person’ and can be online learning (with many courses available free of charge), ‘on the job’ learning, researching a particular piece of work or reading appropriate journals/reports.
There are many interesting online forums and participation at the forums can also be useful CPD, such as the Highfield Food Safety Forum on LinkedIn. Highfield Food Safety Forum | Groups | LinkedIn . This Forum also provides monthly lunchtime webinars for current food related topics and panel discussions
