Principal Environmental Health Officer

ROLE AND PURPOSE

To ensure that the statutory duties for which the postholder is responsible are carried out effectively so that the Council complies with its legal obligations. These duties are primarily but not exclusively involve enforcement of food safety legislation in accordance with the Food Law Code of Practice (England) and the control of infectious disease under direction from the "Proper Officer" (UK Health Security Agency).

To act as a member of the Food and Health and Safety management team and contribute to the delivery of the Service Area Business Plan; with specific responsibility for the actions of staff within the Food Safety Team. This requires implementing corporate policies and procedures, being conversant with national policies and initiatives, developing team work plans and operational procedures, as well as managing staff performance.

To develop an annual work plan with respect to food safety, identify priorities, set targets and monitor performance to ensure that programmes of work are delivered for the relevant lead bodies including the Food Standards Agency. Ensure that suitable planning takes place to ensure adherence to targets on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis in order for the authority to meet its targets, balancing reactive and pro-active workloads to achieve this.

To discharge the responsibilities as Lead Officer for Food Safety - this is a statutory function. Failure to comply with food safety standards can have a national as well as a local impact. It is also a vital part of ensuring Hull’s reputation as a city is not tarnished by poor standards of compliance. This role plays a large part in the relationship management between food businesses and the authority.

To manage the development and training of Environmental Health Officers and other team members on a day-to-day basis to ensure that they gain the necessary experience for them to be able to progress through the FSA competency framework which has been set up by the Section Manager.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

1. Strategy – To assist the Food and Health and Safety Manager by developing and monitoring adherence to an annual work plan and by implementing and monitoring policies and work programmes to enable the performance of the Section to be managed against objectives. To take a lead role in the day-to-day work in areas of specialisation, a role which may also involve the management of Contractors and external specialists as well as external high-level stakeholders.
2. To identify priorities to ensure that statutory services are undertaken in accordance with the relevant legislation and guidance including that issued by the Food Standards Agency and UK Health Security Agency. To act as a point of contact at Hull City Council for the Food Standards Agency and be a ‘Lead Officer’ for Food Hygiene.
3. To be responsible for, and have the discretion to, initiate investigations to detect and rectify serious breaches of a wide range of legislation. To interview witnesses, take statements, collect, prepare and collate evidence correctly, thoroughly, professionally and in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and departmental procedures, to prepare prosecution reports and to act as a witness in court on behalf of the Council.
4. Customer Focus - To conduct detailed inspections and audits at the highest risk business premises, to determine standards, secure improvements and ensure compliance with legal requirements, so as to safeguard work force and public health, safety and welfare. Investigate the most complex service requests, officer identified contraventions, to identify breaches of legislation, non-compliance with statutory codes of practice, and risks to public health. To take the lead in responding rapidly to urgent requests from the Food Standards Agency and UK Health Security Agency and statutory notifications from other Government Agencies. To negotiate suitable timescales, for the completion of requests, which may include making demands of central government agencies themselves and challenging the assumptions and decisions they have already made in order to provide a customer focussed and balanced service for the residents of Hull. Work closely with the Team Managers within the other parts of the Division and colleagues elsewhere in the authority to deliver a cohesive service, this may involve, where necessary taking a lead role in communication for a number of services. This will involve strong influencing skills and interpersonal skills to achieve the desired outcome.
5. To champion a quality, performance and customer focused culture to ensure that services are delivered effectively and in response to identified need. To produce accurate and timely correspondence, records, files and data, including the use of IT and the production of technical reports, to ensure the delivery of quality assured highly focused customer service. To inculcate the practices and processes throughout the team. To act as a lead in the development of corporate systems in use in order to make them as effective as possible in illustrating the contributions of the team to public health objectives. To carry out audits on information contained within the IT systems to ensure accuracy and relevance and to make sure they reflect the current status of premises and can be scrutinised by the relevant external authorities.
6. To manage public requests for advice and reports of concern to ensure a timely and effective response and to ensure the provision of an evidence trail associated with interventions within the team which will allow a qualitative review of action undertaken. To receive feedback on the quality of the service provided, and to benchmark performance. To act on information to enable to team to meet its targets for customer satisfaction and to strive for continuous improvement.
7. Performance Management - To conduct Personal Growth and Performance Review (PGPR) Interviews and 1-1 meetings for the purpose of setting and achieving targets and identifying development and training needs of professional and technical staff. To ensure set standards are achieved and maintained. To take a lead role in monitoring and evaluating service delivery against individual and team targets, take corrective action to address underperformance, ensure the production of timely and accurate performance reports, maintain quality standards and achieve continuous improvement in service delivery.
8. To mentor, train, guide and support less experienced Senior Environmental Health Officers, Environmental Health Officers, Graduate Environmental Health Officers, Food Safety Officers, Regulatory Support Officers and professional trainees, to contribute to their professional development and the development of the team.
9. To recognise, communicate and mitigate risks to the delivery of performance standards. To achieve personal deadlines and targets to ensure compliance with the Service Delivery plan.
10. Leadership - To lead by example and create a positive culture within the team. To motivate, develop and support staff to achieve their full potential through the application of an effective approach to managing personal performance and development. To identify the need for change whilst carrying out the operational implementation of current requirements, at an individual level and through the supervision of staff. To contribute to the planning associated