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OaSIS 2025 Version 1.0
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21120.00 – Public and environmental health and safety professionals

Public and environmental health and safety professionals review, evaluate and monitor public health and environmental safety hazards and develop strategies to prevent, control and eliminate disease and environmental impact caused by biological and chemical factors. They inspect restaurants, industrial establishments, municipal water systems, public facilities, and institutions to ensure compliance with government regulations regarding sanitation, pollution control and the handling and storage of hazardous substances.

Overview

Example job titles

  • Environmental health officer
  • Environmental officer
  • Environmental safety advisor
  • Hazardous waste inspector
  • Pollution control inspector
  • Public health inspector
  • Public health inspectors supervisor
  • Public safety consultant
  • Public safety coordinator
  • Public safety officer
  • Restaurant inspector
  • Rodent control inspector
  • Water inspector

Core competencies

  • Monitoring to monitor sources and levels of pollution present in workplaces, public facilities and other establishments
  • Critical Thinking, Decision Making and Problem Solving to assess complex data to determine potential hazards, to address and mitigate risks through preventive measures and to advocate for corrective policy development
  • Problem Identification and Inductive Reasoning to quickly detect any deviations from regulatory standards or safe practices and to identify patterns that could indicate emerging threats or risks
  • Categorization Flexibility and Information Ordering to organize and process data collected during inspections and to assess biological hazards in water systems, chemical storage practices in industrial facilities and sanitary conditions in public spaces
  • Attention to Detail to record all findings accurately, supporting clear and reliable documentation for enforcement actions, future reference or legal purposes if needed
  • Knowledge in Public Safety and Security to understand regulations regarding public and environmental safety to limit risks and prevent hazards, develop incident response procedures and develop effective health and safety programs

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Inspect the sanitary conditions of restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals and other public facilities or institutions
  • Conduct surveys and monitoring programs of the natural environment to identify sources of pollution
  • Collect biological and chemical samples and specimens for analysis; measure physical, biological and chemical; and conduct safety and environmental audits
  • Investigate health and safety related complaints, spills of hazardous chemicals, outbreaks of diseases or poisonings
  • Inspect workplaces to ensure that equipment, materials and production processes do not present environmental hazards to the environment or a health and safety hazard to employees or to the general public
  • Lead the development and the implementation of public safety and environmental health and safety programs and strategies to mitigate risk and optimize the general public and worker’s health and safety and environmental protection
  • Initiate enforcement procedures to fine or to close an establishment contravening municipal, provincial or federal regulations
  • Provide consultation and deliver training programs to employers, employees and the general public on issues of public health, environmental protection or workplace safety.

Additional information

No data has been provided for this section.

Similar occupations classified elsewhere

Exclusions:

NOC hierarchy breakdown

NOC version

NOC 2021 Version 1.0

Broad occupational category

2 – Natural and applied sciences and related occupations

TEER

1 – Occupations usually require a university degree

Major group

21 – Professional occupations in natural and applied sciences

Sub-major group

211 – Professional occupations in natural sciences

Minor group

2112 – Public and environmental health and safety professionals

Unit group

21120 – Public and environmental health and safety professionals

Occupational profile

21120.00 – Public and environmental health and safety professionals

O*NET in-it

This page includes information from the O*NET 27.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Employment and Social Development Canada has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.