City and County of San Francisco

Under general direction, supervises a number of inspectors in the regular inspection of food and drink establishments, housing, industrial plants and premises in an assigned district for public health and safety hazards in order to enforce established laws, ordinances and regulations pertaining to the abatement of violations found; personally conducts special investigations of highly important and especially difficult cases and makes recommendations and special reports thereon; and performs related duties as required.

Requires responsibility for: Carrying out, developing, interpreting, coordinating and enforcing existing laws, ordinances, policies, methods and procedures in the district supervised; achieving considerable economies and/or preventing considerable losses through efficient and overall organization and supervision of inspection programs and assignments; making regular contacts with the general public, other departments or representatives of outside organizations and dealing with persons of substantially high rank in obtaining and furnishing information or explanations on specialized matters and in obtaining compliance with orders issued; requires overall supervisory responsibility for important inspectional and technical records in the assigned district. As a deputized peace officer, makes arrests when necessary in the enforcement of various codes. Nature of work requires normal physical effort and manual dexterity with occasional exposure to accident and health hazards and disagreeable elements when conducting or reviewing field inspections.

This is the principal-level class in the Environmental Health Inspector series. It is distinguished from the 6122 Senior Environmental Health Inspector in that the 6124 has greater supervisory responsibility and handles the most complex and difficult inspections.

Supervises environmental health inspectors, including those at the senior level.

According to Civil Service Commission Rule 109, the duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job code/class and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

1. Administers and is directly responsible for the work assignments and performance of a Senior Environmental Inspector, inspectors and auxiliary office and clerical personnel; reviews reports and findings of inspectors; interprets applicable laws, ordinances, directives and established policies and procedures.

2. Administers the investigation of complaints involving all buildings; takes necessary action to abate illegal health, sanitary and safety conditions; coordinates efforts with appropriate city departments in the enforcement of the building, electrical, plumbing, fire and police codes; appears as witness in court litigation when required and testifies in cases involving food establishments, housing, commercial buildings, hazardous materials and waste facilities and other matters,

3. Administers the conduct of complaint inspections of dwellings, hotels, apartment houses, and other multiple dwellings, relative to sanitation, general maintenance of structural and operational features, light, ventilation, use and occupancy, safety and for compliance with applicable codes, detects violations; coordinates efforts with the appropriate city department in the enforcement of the building, electrical, plumbing, fire and police codes, makes follow-up inspections to assure ordered corrections have been made; makes recommendations for order of vacation or condemnation of buildings remaining in violation; prepares condemnation reports, appears and testifies at condemnation hearings.

4. Prepares work schedules and assignments for office and field activities, investigations and special surveys relating to food, housing, urban renewal, industrial hygiene, air pollution, vector control, mosquito control and abatement, hazardous materials management and other environmental, ecological problems; observes routine office procedures and field activities for purposes of improving forms, techniques and overall performance; assists in the development and advancement of subordinates through training and effective use of employee development program,

5. Conducts spot inspections to determine efficiency of inspection work; confers with personnel on all problems concerning both office and field activities; advises on best procedures in order to insure maximum degree of compliance.

6. Consults with outside individuals and representatives of various concerns and establishments regarding compliance with regulatory requirements and orders issued, and to work out disputes or misinterpretations of existing provisions; confers with architects, contractors and attorneys on plans and specifications for new structures or rehabilitation of existing buildings; confers with members of other governmental jurisdictions in matters relating to specific activities and interpretations of applicable codes and regulations; accompanies representatives of the State Department of Agriculture on field inspections of meat processing plants.

7. May be assigned to administer and supervise the development and implementation of programs with respect to health and safety for employees of the Health Department; investigates and causes compliance with joint commission accreditation and related standards for institutions and other facilities of the Health Department; personally reviews and may investigate reports of hazards or injuries along with corrections for same; coordinates the accident prevention program for the department; provides technical information and guidance to supervisory personnel; and generally provides an awareness for safe working conditions and correction of safety hazards among city employees.

8. Personally conducts investigations of a highly important or special nature directly concerning department policy and on matters requiring more experienced judgment.

9. Makes final recommendations for issuance of warrants, citations and of any further action required to secure compliance with local, state or other existing regulations; makes final recommendations for condemnation of properties when owners fail to comply with statutory requirements; attends condemnation hearings and court litigations in connection with specific charges and violations; exercises independent judgment in quarantining and condemning unsatisfactory foodstuffs.

10. Reviews reports of completed work assignments of both field and office activities; prepares periodic consolidated reports of district environmental health inspectors; conducts periodic staff meeting for purpose of disseminating new information and clarification of existing requirements, policies, methods and procedures; analyzes reports and activities of office and clerical personnel for compliance of essential information and statistical data.

11. Serves as departmental representative in matters relating to safety and accident prevention; conducts safety meetings with supervisorial personnel to review employee accidents and accident reporting as well as accident prevention.

12. When assigned, supervises and serves as consultant for the Senior Environmental Health Inspector in charge of dairy and milk sanitation specialist for district offices of the bureau of environmental health.

Requires a broad working knowledge of: Field inspection techniques and procedures and related office routines, forms, documents and reports; state laws and city ordinances and health department rules and regulations pertaining to general sanitation, housing inspection, hospital procedures and sanitation, accident prevention and safety procedures.

Requires exceptional skill and ability to: Meet and deal with the general public as well as with many different food vendors, retailers, food manufacturing representatives, building owners and managers, tenants and others; obtain and enforce effective cooperation and understanding of requirements to improve general public health and sanitary conditions in the assigned district; organize and effectively supervise inspectors and auxiliary office and clerical personnel.

These minimum qualifications establish the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license(s) which are required for employment in the classification.  Please note, additional qualifications (i.e., special conditions) may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the exam/job announcement.

Education:
Both specialties: Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in engineering, environmental health, mathematics, or physical, natural or biological sciences.

Experience:
Hazardous Materials/Hazardous or Medical Waste Specialty: Requires seven (7) years of experience in hazardous materials, hazardous waste, site mitigation and/or medical waste as a technician or inspector in an environmental health agency or related regulatory/service agency, or as a professional consultant in the environmental health industry ; OR
Five (5) year of experience as an inspector in a Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA).

Consumer Protection Specialty: Requires seven (7) years of experience in food, housing, water quality and supply, vector control, noise abatement and/or other related environmental health inspection work.

License and Certification:
Consumer Protection Specialty: Requires possession of a REHS (Registered Environmental Health Specialist) Certificate, issued by the State of California Department of Health Services and eligibility to be deputized as a peace officer.

Hazardous Materials/Hazardous or Medical Waste Specialty: Requires a CA UST Inspector Certification issued by the International Code Council (ICC) and possession of a current HAZWOPER Certification.

Both specialties: Require possession of a valid California driver's license.

Amended: 5/31/1972; 7/2/2015

All City and County of San Francisco employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law (California Government Code Section 3100-3109). Employment with the City requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are required to complete all Disaster Service Worker-related training as assigned, and to return to work as ordered in the event of an emergency.