ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICER/ ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNICAL OFFICER

Job Description

Role Title / Environmental Health Officer/ Environmental Technical Officer
Group / Community Networks
Team / Public Health
Reports to / Business and Operations Team Leader

Welcome to Wellington City Council

We serve the residents and businesses of the city of Wellington. To ensure we meet their needs we consult and engage with them on a regular basis and develop our vision and long term plans to meet those needs.

Our vision for the city is articulated in Wellington Towards 2040: Smart Capital. There are four pillars to this strategy:

•People-CentredCity

Building a healthy, vibrant, affordable and resilient city with a strong sense of identity and “place” expressed through urban form, openness and accessibility.

•Connected City

A city with easy access to regional, national and global networks. Connections will be: physical, allowing for ease of movement of people and goods; virtual, in the form of world-class ICT infrastructure; and social, enabling people to connect with each other and their communities.

•Eco-City

Proactively responding to environmental challenges, taking an environmental leadership role as the capital city of clean, green New Zealand.

•DynamicCity

A city with a dynamic centre – a place of creativity, exploration and innovation. The central city will continue to drive the regional economy and provide Wellingtonians and visitors alike with unique and outstanding experiences.

Our Long-term Plan sets out how we will work towards the 2040 vision over the next 10 years. There are three priorities for the 2012-2022 Long-Term Plan:

1.Wellington – an inclusive place where talent wants to live

Our economic future depends on our ability to attract and retain people, and employment opportunities, in our city. To do this, we will maintain our investment in those things that make Wellington a great place to live, while increasing our investment in activities that will grow the economy and make Wellington an even more attractive place to work, invest in and visit. By doing these things, we are taking important steps towards achieving our community outcomes.

2.Resilient city

To maintain and enhance our city’s resilience, we will prioritise investment in earthquake strengthening the city’s key infrastructure and work with businesses and communities so that, as a city, we are better prepared for and can swiftly recover from earthquakes and other natural disasters.

3.A well-managed city

We are committed to providing effective services that are good value for money. To achieve this priority, we will focus on simplifying our processes, making the best of technology, working in partnerships with others, managing demand ahead of investing in new assets, and looking for opportunities to reduce costs or generate income. This will help us stay within the parameters of our financial strategy by keeping rates affordable and managing our debt levels.

Our foundation values are:

•Aim high

•Encourage fresh thinking

•Deliver what’s right

•Work together

•Act with integrity and respect

•Aspire to zero harm to our staff and customers

Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi

Wellington City Council is committed to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi – partnership, participation and protection - and as such, we work with our iwi partners and the wider Māori community to meet their needs and aspirations for the city.

Public Health Team Key Result Areas

The Public Health team is a statutory and regulatory team within the Community Networks business unit at the Wellington City Council. Its core business entails processing and monitoring various types of applications for permissions and inspections in order to ensure the appropriate use of land, the integrity of buildings and to maintain public health and safety. It also includes maintenance of land information, advice to customers on a range of regulatory matters and monitoring compliance with bylaws and legislation.

The business unit works in a team based environment

Detailed description of Environmental Health Officer / Environmental Technical Officer

Purpose of the Role:
To ensure public safety outcomes are achieved, including ensuring safe food, appropriate alcohol management practices and minimisation of risk from trade waste, hazardous substances and infectious disease control.
To protect the environment and the health of the community including residents and visitors to Wellington.
Key Relationships:
Internal
Manager Community Networks
Public Health Manager
Business Unit Team Leaders
Business Unit Team Members
Other business units / External
Customers
Public Health Service
Ministry for Primary Industries
Ministry of Health
Regional and Local Authorities
Key Responsibilities / To achieve this you will need to: / As a result we will see:
Public Health operational processes / Deliver on the Public Health educationmonitoring, reporting and compliance programme for activities licensed in accordance with:
  • Food Hygiene Regulations 1974
  • Food Act 2014 – including undertaking verifications of Food Control Plans and National Programmes and the duties of a warranted food safety officer
  • Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 – including undertaking the duties of a warranted liquor licensing inspector
  • (Health) Hairdressers Regulations 1980
  • Health Act 1956 – including Funeral Directors, offensive trades, camping grounds
  • WCC Consolidated Bylaw – including Animal Boarding Establishments, pavement permissions
  • Public Health Bylaw
  • Undertake the duties and responsibilities of a Litter Control Officer, under the Litter Control Act including the issue of litter infringement notices, and review and assess objections to infringement notices.
  • Provide technical input into the assessments for building consents, LIMs and resource consents, ensuring that public health effects are minimized and public health regulatory requirements are met
  • Report on license applications under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 and registration applications under the Food Act 2014
  • Take ownership and responsibility for decisions reached, including implementing and recording these decisions properly
  • Compile and maintain accurate records of all activities in accordance with Public Health team guidelines and processes
/
  • An effective monitoring, reporting and compliance programme

Workflow management /
  • Proactively manage own work to achieve service delivery standards and statutory timeframes
  • Plan, organise and manage workload and outputs on a daily/weekly basis, escalating any workload issues
/
  • The verification and inspection programmesare delivered to required standards within prescribed timeframes

Risk management /
  • Ensure safety of licensed public health activities through ensuring compliance with legislative requirements and WCC consolidated bylaws and policies
  • Work with team leaders and technical seniors to resolve situations and where necessary take enforcement action including issuing notices, undertaking closures, issuing infringements and taking appropriate legal action
  • Undertake and/or initiate timely action to develop an opportunity or address a risk
  • Comply with all policies and processes described in quality management systems and in accordance with best practice
  • Undertake follow up for non-payment of registration fees and evidential visits as required, to support public health registration and administration processes and preparation of affidavits
/
  • Incidents of non-compliance are dealt with in a timely manner and followed up and recorded where appropriate
  • Public health risks are minimised

Customer service and advice /
  • Provide education, advice and guidance to customers on public health activities and statutory requirements
  • Identify, facilitate and influence the development of customer educational initiatives internally and externally to the council
  • Investigate complaints and work proactively with all parties to bring about a satisfactory resolution
  • Where required, represent Council interests at various industry forums
  • Work constructively with customers to identify and respond to their needs
  • Mediate constructively and effectively to resolve difference and conflict
/
  • The team provides a high standard of customer service

Continuous improvement /
  • Actively participate in the development and audit of quality management system policies and processes
  • Carry out peer reviews and internal audits to ensure best practice for regulated activities
  • Take a pro-active a forward thinking approach, identifying possible problems, threats, issues and opportunities
  • Keep up to date on Council issues, changes and opportunities and maintain technical and professional expertise
  • Contribute to and influence team development and policy and process change initiatives
  • Actively participate in the development of policies and practices to ensure the impacts of changing legislation are addressed
/
  • Potential issues are identified and dealt with at an early stage
  • The team continues to improve and refine its policies and processes

Technical specialists /
  • Deputise for team leaders as required
  • Provide general advice and guidance on technical matters to other staff as required
  • Actively and positively mentor and coach team members to develop greater levels of technical knowledge and performance
  • Provide feedback to all officers as necessary regarding the processing of verification/inspection/audit of registered/licensed activities and co-ordinate feedback and identify opportunities for service and process improvement
  • Co-review and peer review the processing, inspection and audit of licensed premises and co-ordinate feedback and identify opportunities for development to team leaders to raise during performance development discussions
  • Lead and/or actively participate in discussions, technical improvements and process or planning workshops
  • Communicate regularly with team and staff members on public health related issues and be aware of proposed changes within the legislative environment
/
  • The team delivers sound technical advice to both its customers and other stakeholders

Emergency response /
  • In the event of emergencies affecting WellingtonCity all staff within the Public Health team may be called on to respond by providing management or support duties as appointed by the Incident Controller according to the New Zealand Coordinated Incident management System (CIMS)
/
  • The team takes a co-ordinated approach with other key agencies and responds appropriately in an emergency

Health and safety /
  • Take responsibility for your work environment, identify hazards and risks and ensure they are addressed
/
  • Regular reviews with your manager to identify any health and safety risks, hazards, accidents and incidents

JOB REQUIREMENTS – ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICER/ ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNICAL OFFICER
Qualifications:
For Environmental Health Officers only:
The National Diploma in Environmental Health Science (NZ) or an equivalent relevant tertiary qualification in accordance with the Environmental Health Officers Qualifications Regulations 1993
Experience
Strong demonstrable knowledge of and experience in:
The Health Act 1956, the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, the Resource Management Act 1991, the Health (Hairdressers) Regulations 1980, the Food Hygiene Regulations 1974, the Food Act 2014, Wellington City Council Bylaws, Council District Plans and Council policies.
The ability to effectively interpret statutes, regulations, Council plans, bylaws and policies.
The Microsoft suite of tools, and the ability to learn new systems quickly.
Excellent customer service skills.
Written and oral communication – including effectively communicating regulatory requirements to people with little or no understanding , and/or English as a second language.
Building and maintaining effective relationships
Organising and planning.
It is essential a current and valid driving license is held.
Job related competencies: Role specific competencies required for the job
  • Integrity - At all times delivering professional services and behaving with honesty, independence and impartially, respect for the confidentiality of information and avoiding and declaring any potential conflicts of interest. Doing the right thing even when no one is around.
  • Diagnostic Information Gathering -identifying the information needed to clarify a situation or fully inform a report or decision, seeking that information from all appropriate sources, and using skilful questioning and analysis to draw out the information including when others are reluctant to disclose it. Getting more complete and accurate information by checking multiple sources.
  • Predicting – Analysing available information to assess the most likely long term result of a range of options. Supplements available information with experience and judgment to ensure predictions are as accurate as possible.
  • Negotiating – Reaching a consensus view without damaging relationships and with minimal noise. Pushing as hard as possible so both parties agree they have achieved a win-win outcome.
  • Prioritising – Making decisions in the context of the contribution to Council outcomes given the level of investment required.
  • Prudent – Taking a cautious and considered approach towards investment and expenditure.
  • Articulate –Coherently and succinctly communicate the essence of the story adapted for Councillors, key organisations critical to the success of the city, and the general public.
  • Persuasive – Understanding the audience so we can relate to their perspective and tell a reasoned and compelling story to align others to our point of view.
  • Diplomatic – Sensitive to the political environment, knowing when to keep pushing and when to tactfully retract to achieve an optimal outcome.
  • Solution focussed – Thinking beyond constraints and focusing on what is possible to ensure proposals are results oriented and practical.
  • Foresight – Intuitively processing facts about the environment into the most likely scenarios, so we can proactively make decisions about how to respond and anticipate the impact of our actions.
  • Energy & Drive - You will be motivated to demonstrate energy and drive to achieve results.
  • Politically Astute – You will understand the political context in which the Council operates and be sensitive to political processes.
  • Operational Ability – With a focus on value for ratepayers you will get things done and eliminate roadblocks.
  • Customer Service – The customer problem is always our problem
  • Professionalism – You will behave in ways that support the culture and values of the Council. You learn from mistakes and strive for personal development.
  • Effectiveness for Maori - Understanding and meeting the needs of Māori in the Council’s internal working environment and in the delivery of services to the Wellington community.
  • Biculturalism and Diversity – Acts in ways that promote an environment of biculturalism, diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Delegated authorities: none
Disclaimer
The responsibilities above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work required by the incumbent to achieve the expected outcomes for the job. From time to time, the incumbent may be required to perform duties outside of these responsibilities as required.

25 February 2016Environmental Health Officer / Environmental Technical Officer1