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THE MAGAZINE FOR CIEH MEMBERS
www.cieh.org February 2021 Volume 36 Issue 1
FROM A DISTANCE Welcoming new staff remotely
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CLIMATE EMERGENCY SO YOU’VE DECLARED A
WHAT NEXT?
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WILL ECOCIDE BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL CRIME?
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John Innes john.innes@thinkpublishing.co.uk Think Publishing Ltd Capital House 8th Floor 25 Chapel Street London NW1 5DH 020 3771 7200 EHN is published 10 times per year and printed on paper made from pulp sourced from sustainable materials. The views expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect those of CIEH. All information is correct at the time of going to press. Articles published in the magazine may be reproduced only with the permission of CIEH and with acknowledgement to EHN. CIEH does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of statements made by contributors or advertisers. The contents of this magazine are the copyright of CIEH. Ideas and letters to the editor are welcome. EHN is mailed in a wrapper made from potato starch and is fully compostable. You can even use it in your kitchen caddy.
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WELCOMING NEW STARTERS... FROM A DISTANCE
05 UPDAT E
News School meals; preventing allergen deaths; pet food manufacture concerns; EHP named in New Year Honours; and bee conservation. 10 minutes with... CIEH’s new CEO. Phil James plans to ‘earn his way into the EH conversation’.
EVE RY I S SU E 31 TALES FROM THE FRONT LINE EHP Emily Barton works on cruise ships. She tells us the EH challenges of these ‘floating cities’.
G O ON L I N E Find your next job at www.ehn-jobs.com, and see how to further your career at www.cieh.org
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1 2 FEATU R E SO YOU’VE DECLARED A CLIMATE EMERGENCY... What next? EHN finds reasons to be optimistic as local authorities prove themselves nimble and innovative when it comes to the climate emergency. But for many the work has only just begun.
1 9 L EGAL BR I E FI NG Opinion Moves to make ecocide a crime. Prosecutions Repeat hygiene offenders, landlord finally fined and Tesco pays after worker injured.
2 2 YOU R CAR E E R Tips on… welcoming new staff remotely.
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Welcome, 1
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Can we find hope? Y ANY STANDARDS
2021 has got off to a tumultuous start. It started in the middle of the metaphorical COVID-19 storm, and was less than two weeks old when it was assailed by Storm Christoph, which brought catastrophic flooding to large areas of England and Wales. The COVID pandemic has lifted a number of stones: food poverty is an issue in a wealthy nation, conspiracy theories spread via social media have seriously undermined public health messaging and it’s clear that isolation and mental health issues are likely to be a huge challenge as we move forward. Are there reasons to be hopeful? I think that there are. Climate change is a massive issue, but action is being taken at a macro and micro level. The new US Administration has rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement. Progress is being made on making ecocide an international
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A new year and a new crisis for Wales as Storm Christoph brings widespread flooding and washes away the historic Llanerch Bridge
ANN COULON “The move to criminalise ecocide is part of a trend that is likely to continue until effective environmental protection is in place”
EMILY BARTON “[Onboard ship] you have to use a wide range of soft skills to communicate the same message: ‘What is the risk if I don’t do this?’”
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crime (read what one of the lawyers involved in campaigning for this has to say on p19). Closer to home, councils are leading by example by setting targets and engaging local stakeholders – with or without a lead from central government (see the feature on p12). It’s been said that every disaster is an opportunity, and in my view the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change emergency are ours. We need to show that EHPs, in all the arenas in which we operate, have and will be front and centre in tackling these crises. Few have our skills, knowledge and understanding. Now is our time, and we must grasp the opportunity. As ever, if you have anything to add to the themes in EHN, email editor@cieh.org
JULIE BARRATT President, CIEH FEBRUARY 2021 / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS 3
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Worries over food safety of free school meals parcels ROADSIDEMUM
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The FSA has advised “consumers who had received these parcels to report their concerns to the local authority”
Packages that created headlines last month were not only scant, but prompted concerns over unsuitable packaging, lack of temperature controls and inadequate allergen and use-by information WWW.CIEH.ORG
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F
OOD SAFETY
concerns have still not been addressed following the free school meal parcels scandal in England that broke in January. Concern in the media focused on the scant quantities and poor nutritional value of some of the parcels. Prime Minister Boris Johnson described them in Parliament as “appalling” and an “insult”. However, pictures circulated also raised food safety concerns – including foil-wrapped ham, and tuna decanted into money bags. There was no indication that use-by dates or allergen information had been provided.
An EHP who preferred to remain anonymous said: “Key issues that would warrant further questioning include: whether money bags were really used by the catering company as these are unlikely to be suitable food-grade material. Were the high-risk items delivered in a suitable temperature-controlled environment? There is no obvious allergen info.” A Department for Education spokesperson said it did have strong guidance around food safety. However, food safety is not mentioned in the School Food in England or School Food Standards guides, beyond the need for allergen information. In the government guidance on providing free school meals during the pandemic there are just a couple of lines: catering for children with special diets including allergens is mentioned, and food safety is referenced only in terms of a recommendation for packs to include food parcels rather than pre-prepared meals. The spokesperson said the department had held an emergency meeting with Public Health England and the charity LACA, which represents school caterers, shortly after the issue was raised in the media, but could not confirm whether food safety was discussed. They did say the guidance was being updated, but this had not been done as EHN went to press. LACA said it had no comment, and the Food Standards Agency provided the following statement: “We were concerned to see images on Twitter of parcels posing potential food safety issues, particularly the lack of use-by date and allergen labelling. We advised consumers who had received these parcels to report their concerns to the local authority.”
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Standards Agency (FSA) has determined that placenta is considered ‘food’ for the purposes of food hygiene practice – but failed to publish any accompanying guidance for inspecting officers. The news was welcomed by placenta processors as it gives them a legal basis to operate. However, food hygiene experts were concerned at the lack of practical guidance for local authority officers dealing with placenta food business operators (FBOs), which the FSA had suggested it would produce. The FSA says placenta is not a ‘product of animal origin’ nor a ‘novel food’. Placenta processing businesses are considered FBOs.
An FSA spokesperson said the advice was “proportionate for this current situation”, adding: “Local authority EHPs should continue to use the usual channels for seeking further advice on food safety and hygiene issues. We will support as far as possible where food forums are unable to reach resolution.” Liz DeVere, commercial team manager at North Hertfordshire District Council, said members of the Herts and Beds Food Liaison Group, which she chairs, were disappointed by the FSA statement. “This document does answer some of EHPs’ questions but it leaves individual local authorities to
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Mixed production ‘risky’ warn experts A
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potential increased risk of food fraud has been raised following moves by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to sanction the production of pet food on the same premises as food for humans. The FSA has revised its guidance on the ‘manufacturing of pet food in approved/ registered food establishments from ingredients that contain products of animal origin (POAO) in a manner as food fit for human consumption’. Findings from a consultation in 2018 were only published in December 2020. The FSA said it had W FSA SOME CONSIDER NE MAD GUIDANCE BARKING
been asked to review the guidance by local authorities and food producers and that the move could reduce food waste. Food safety expert and EHP Tony Lewis said: “The history of food fraud in the UK is such that criminality remains a significant problem – particularly in respect of the meat industry. This is a huge backward step.” Food safety campaigner Steve Nash said he thought consumers would be “horrified”, and the move was “risky”, especially while EH officers are drafted into COVID work, and dealing with significant changes to the food codes of practice. An FSA spokesperson said production would be “strictly separated at all times” and operators must pass a “rigorous approval process first.”
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Placenta products must adhere to food hygiene rules
decide if critical control points for these products are adequate. We had hoped that, given the complex nature of the hazards in human placenta, the FSA would have provided some guidance on the […] controls that would be expected in a food safety management system.”
Kate Thompson, CIEH’s director for Wales and food safety spokesperson, said: “Local authorities have been waiting years for a steer from the FSA on whether placenta is considered food so this determination is welcomed. It’s a pity, however, that more detailed guidance isn’t available, which would ensure a consistent approach.”
DATA
PUBLIC WANTS STRICT FOOD REGS
Strong food standards are needed to ensure cheap food is also safe, especially as families struggle to put food on the table during the pandemic. This is according to traditional northern English Labour voters who switched sides in the 2019 election. Research from campaign group Unchecked UK and consultancy KSBR Brand Futures found these voters supported well-enforced regulations across all areas, particularly food.
Ipsos Mori also carried out a poll for Unchecked UK looking at attitudes of young Leave voters (aged 22-48):
85%
of younger Conservative Leave voters think the UK should keep or increase food safety regulations
6%
wanted a reduction in food safety regs
79%
of 2019 Conservative voters and 80% of Labour voters agreed regulation ensured fair behaviour by people and business
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FSA classes placenta products as food
Third coroner calls for register of allergen-related incidents A
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register for allergen-related deaths could help avoid future tragedies, the coroner who led the inquest into the death of 14-year-old Ruben Bousquet has urged. This is the third time a UK coroner had made this call, and CIEH has been lobbying for measures that go further so that allergen-related ‘near-misses’ are also reportable. Ruben died in 2019 of acute anaphylaxis to cow’s milk allergen from crosscontamination of popcorn, which he had eaten at a cinema in Greenwich, London. In his prevention of future deaths report, senior coroner Andrew Harris said: “Action
Agency and maintenance of a register of fatalities and their investigations.” Two other coroners have also called for a national Ruben Bousquet register, including the died from acute coroner who led the anaphylaxis after inquest into Owen eating popcorn Carey, 18, who died in 2017 after eating a burger marinated in buttermilk, despite making restaurant staff aware he was allergic. The coroner in the inquest into the death of Dylan Hill, 18, from eating a curry containing peanuts in a Barnsley restaurant in 2015, suggested information about anaphylaxis incidents should be taken to consider should be brought together. establishing a national reporting Ian Andrews, a head of system which includes timely service at the London borough reporting to local authority which, unusually, investigated and the Food Standards
“It’s important that we see quick reporting to local authorities”
both Ruben’s and Owen’s cases, said: “A national register would enable anybody with access to identify what product/products or allergens are commonly causing these incidents. You could then go on to identify best practice and guidance. “It’s important that we see quick reporting of allergy incidents to local authorities as this brings about effective investigations.” Allergen-related deaths are not included within the Work-related Deaths Protocol (WRDP), which guides joint working between investigating organisations. Andrews and colleagues have been lobbying the WRDP to consider including allergens but it hasn’t yet happened.
BEM award for EHP
Special Inspector honoured for services to policing
Olson Oxenham hailed as an “impressive leader” by Cressida Dick
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An EHP has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to policing after 40 years as a volunteer with the Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC). Special Inspector Olson Oxenham, a former EH officer at Camden Council in London and now a safety adviser with NSF International, joined the Special Constabulary in 1979 after he read a newspaper article encouraging people from ethnic minorities to join the police. Now he oversees MSC operations in north-west London. Oxenham said in his first posting his ethnicity caused him to experience “a mixed reaction from regulars and MSC, some of whom made me quite uncomfortable”. He made
it his personal goal to see more people of colour in the service. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said in a letter to Oxenham: “You have been an impressive leader in the field of recruitment and opening the Met up to wider communities and encouraging people of all backgrounds to join us.” Oxenham said: “I have gained a lot from my time in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). I have appreciated the many exciting opportunities alongside the chance to fulfil my passion in pursuing justice and fairness for everyone. I am proud to have become a role model for ethnic minority officers, encouraging trust and respect within the MPS community.”
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Bees before beet, urge campaigners While farmers welcome temporary lifting of neonics ban to save crops, environmentalists argue for alternatives
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the plant as it grows, protecting the whole plant from pests. However, that means the substance will also be found in the nectar and pollen of plants treated, and so will be picked up by pollinating insects, including bees. The NFU argued that farmers have agreed not to plant any flowering crops in fields treated with the chemical for two years afterwards. It also said that if these crops fail, the UK will have to import sugar beet from the 13 EU countries that have already
approved a similar temporary lifting of the ban. However, charities such as The Wildlife Trusts, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are alarmed at the announcement and have questioned the logic of the decision when the government is pouring billions into climate action, and there is an obesity and diabetes epidemic. Bee and pollinators expert Professor Dave Goulson at the University of Sussex says that the chemical is the equivalent of novichok agents
“The chemical is the equivalent of novichok agents for pollinators”
for pollinators. He said research has shown that just 5% of the dressing is used by the plant, the rest remains in the soil and leaches into waterways affecting plant life, such as wildflowers, beyond the crop-sown areas. He said: “Sugar is really bad for us and the government is allowing farmers to use a chemical that we know will harm the environment for something that makes us ill. It may seem a bit dramatic but we have a global obesity and diabetes epidemic.” He added: “It seems like a really backwards step and doesn’t seem to be looking at the big picture that actually growing a bit less sugar is a good thing. “Obviously you have got to feel for the individual farmer if they lose a lot of the crop and maybe there should be some compensation mechanism, but resorting to a chemical that the whole of Europe decided was so poisonous we should ban it so that we can grow a bit more sugar just seems stupid to me.”
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The Wildlife Trusts said recent research suggests the UK has lost at least half of its insect population since 1970
41%
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campaigners have called for government to support farmers in growing alternative crops to sugar beet, rather than allow the use of a banned chemical that is poisonous to bees to deal with a pest outbreak. The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) applied to Westminster to allow emergency use of a neonicotinoid seed dressing to deal with an outbreak of virus yellows disease, which it said was having an “unprecedented” impact on Britain’s sugar beet crop. The NFU said authorisation was “desperately needed” and that they were relieved the government had lifted the ban temporarily. Michael Sly, chair of the NFU’s sugar board, said the sector was continuing to work “as quickly as possible” to find long-term alternative solutions to the disease. Farmers will use the neonicotinoid as a dressing, which will coat the seed so that when it goes into the ground the chemical is drawn up into
WWW.CIEH.ORG
CV I N BR I E F EDUCATION ●● BSc (Hons), construction management, University of Salford ●● MSc, corporate direction, University of Wolverhampton ●● Postgrad Diploma, management, University of Portsmouth ●● Doctor of Management, University of Hertfordshire. Thesis – exploring how management practice is influenced by how
10 M I NUT E S W I T H
Phil James
CIEH’s new chief executive, Phil James, has a lot to learn – but a lot to give too. EHN caught up with him as he started to get to grips with his role I’M VERY MUCH A FAMILY MAN. I’m married to Kathryn
and we have two teenage children, Charlotte and Will, and a scruffy dog called Monty.
I’M FROM THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ORIGINALLY. But for the past
20 years I’ve worked for professional bodies.
SHUTTERSTOCK
SO, AS YOU CAN TELL, I’M NOT AN EHP. My
contribution will be from my experience in professional associations that I hope will complement the skills and expertise of CIEH members and colleagues.
WWW.CIEH.ORG
IT’S A PRIVILEGE TO BE A CEO
and that brings with it responsibilities. I’m aware of the significant influence that my world view and my behaviours can have on the organisation and colleagues. And so while I have a sense of what’s important for CIEH – and I do have ambitions and aspirations – I’m not going to start imposing my views on everybody else.
“I want to prioritise building open and productive relationships”
I HAVE AN INTENSE COMMITMENT TO LEARNING ABOUT EH, not only in terms
of the technical and policy issues but also in terms of the emotional and personal connection that makes EH such a compelling and rewarding career.
CIEH HAS NOT BEEN SITTING AROUND WAITING FOR ME TO ARRIVE. I’m joining a vibrant
and active organisation at the heart of a vibrant and active profession and I’m new to this conversation. I want to prioritise building open and productive
identity is conditioned by leadership and management discourse. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS ●● Regional Director, Chartered Institute of Building ●● Assistant CEO, British Association of Social Workers ●● CEO, Institute of Quarrying and Mineral Products Qualification Council ●● CEO, Institute of Leadership & Management
relationships with colleagues and the membership. I will start by listening to the people around me and earning my way into the conversation already taking place.
I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN BUT I ALSO HAVE A LOT TO CONTRIBUTE. The EH
profession is staring at significant pressures and challenges: COVID-19, Brexit, and the changing complexion of the UK economy on the back of all that. I want to make sure CIEH is able to support, promote and develop the profession for the benefit of the public.
EH PLAYS SUCH A VITAL ROLE AT THE HEART OF SOCIETY.
CIEH has a similarly vital and dynamic role at the heart of the profession. For anyone working in EH, I want CIEH to be their home, their inspiration and the beating heart of a connected and vibrant professional community. JOINING AT A TIME OF NATIONAL PRESSURE
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CLIMATE CHANGE In the face of a global pandemic and further financial austerity, many local councils are declaring an environmental crisis BY KATIE COYNE ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN HOLCROFT/IKON
E
IGHT OUT OF TEN
councils are already dealing with the effects of climate breakdown, according to Local Government Association research. So it’s no surprise that three quarters of councils have declared a climate emergency, says Councillor Kevin Frea, founder of the Climate Emergency UK group, which brings together local authorities across the UK to share ideas and best practice. Of those councils remaining, Frea adds, most are drawing up plans to tackle the effects of climate change, but are reluctant about using the term ‘emergency’. Yet once you’ve declared a climate emergency what can you actually do? Quite a lot, argues Professor Nick Eyre, Oxford City Council’s scientific adviser (only the second appointment of its kind
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in the country). He advocates simple, practical steps, such as ensuring that all council buildings and transport – council offices, leisure centres, bus services, refuse vehicles – are net zero emissions, and that there is a plan in place to get there. “If a council is going to be credible in saying to local businesses and the local population, we want to aim for net zero, then it’s got to make sure its own house is in order,” says Eyre. This is crucial because the next stage involves councils working in partnership with local stakeholders – local offices, factories, bus companies – and this is the approach Oxford is taking (see page 15).
BECOMING CARBON NEUTRAL
Partnership working is even more important during and post-COVID-19, argues the leader of Warwick District Council, Andrew Day. His authority had an ambitious plan to raise £3m,
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by putting up council tax, to invest in projects to help the council become carbon neutral. The local referendum on the plan, which had cross-party support, was due in May 2020 but was cancelled due to COVID-19. However, instead of giving up on the idea, the council has taken £500K from its contingency funds and joined forces with neighbouring local authority Stratford-on-Avon District Council on the project. Day argues that even making small changes means you can lead by example. He mentions that the council has a commitment to plant 160,000 trees – one for every resident – and he has been working with local groups to continue this work during the pandemic. “Little steps get you on long journeys,” says Day.
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BIGGER SYSTEM CHANGE
Once councils have taken action on the things they directly control such as their own emissions, and have worked with their local communities to support them to do the same, bigger system change can be looked at, says Kierra Box, trade campaigner at Friends of the Earth. This might involve the council changing the way it procures food for schools and hospitals, which Traffic in Oxfordshire encompasses both modern EV charging points (above left) and the older green option of cycling (right) would have a knock-on effect on the UK’s global trade policy and trade it includes people who weren’t engaged agency but that’s not something that flows. “Supporting grassroots action on in environmental issues before. many local authorities are good at: climate change can impact on our national Frea, who is also a cabinet member for they’re not necessarily good at engaging government policy,” says Box, “and help climate action at Lancaster City Council, with their local communities on an them respond to people better.” has first-hand experience as his authority equal level. They might throw out a Councils can also take action and join ran an assembly – although it was called consultation and then take notice, or not up with other local communities in the UK a People’s Jury – throughout 2020. take notice. But they need to actually say, and around the world, especially those “A lot of them hadn’t really thought ‘Hey, you know this is a really important most affected by climate change. Setting about climate change before, didn’t thing, we want to work on this together’.” up local climate assemblies also encourages know much about it and weren’t SHIFTING THE BALANCE democracy and engagement. particularly interested,” says Frea. But Research from the New Local group, A People’s Assembly, or something over time, he says, as those taking part in its report Shifting the Balance, similarly named, can have a had briefings from experts and lots of suggests new ways of working during “transformative” effect on the residents discussions, they became more motivated the pandemic have had a transformative taking part, according to Kevin Frea. If to see their proposals carried through, effect on local democracy. Councils and you’ve not come across an assembly before, and to guide their council’s priorities. their staff have had to radically change the it sounds like it might be comprised of “They’ve become really engaged people, way they work to meet local needs, and environmental activists, but a ‘true’ who really want to see their work alongside their communities. And assembly is selected randomly, while also recommendations through.” the growth of local COVID-19 action reflecting the population in terms of age, Councils often don’t realise how groups has also contributed to this rise in gender, and views on climate change. influential they are, says Frea. local engagement. It is deliberately weighted to ensure “Local authorities have tremendous
I N PR ACT IC E
Ahead of the curve
How Oxford is getting local decision makers on board Oxford City Council has already negotiated with some of its local businesses an emissions reduction plan of 3% per year. While this probably won’t be enough to get Oxford to zero emissions by 2045, and further “genuinely open discussions” will need to be held, it’s a good start, says scientific adviser Professor Nick Eyre. Mirroring the Climate Change Committee, Oxford also plans to set out interim targets, which Eyre argues “makes it more real” for local decision makers.
“Public services should make space for community-led action because the first lockdown in particular showed how successful this can be,” says Charlotte Morgan, New Local senior policy researcher. “By ‘making space’ I mean that public services should view communities as partners rather than ‘consumers’ or ‘service users’ and positively enable their activities rather than seek to control or direct them.” Councils may also need to reframe the work that they do: they have always carried out work around sustainability and environmental issues, it’s just that they are not usually thought of in those terms. “There are a lot of things that people would normally think of as being housing policy or transport policy in the conventional, local government way of dividing up the world. A lot of those powers can be brought to bear on the climate challenge,” says Nick Eyre. EHPs could also shine a different light on the work they do. A quick poll that EHN Extra carried out over the summer found that 91% of EHPs were personally worried, or very worried, about climate change, yet at the same time 31% felt these issues were not related at all to their day-to-day jobs. Rob Crouch, of the UK Environmental Health Research Network, found this very strange, especially when you consider that WWW.CIEH.ORG
the profession concerns, in a literal sense, the health of the environment. “In terms of the challenge that presents itself with climate change, I can’t think of a better engaged and a better positioned group of people, potentially, when you look at what we’re having to do,” he suggests.
TIME AND RESOURCING
Clearly the two elephants in the room – time and resourcing – are huge factors here and it’s difficult to see what else EHPs could currently take on beyond COVID-19 and maintaining non-COVID duties. But Crouch argues that this is something to unravel: how to think beyond the usual silos, and ensure that local government colleagues recognise EHPs as potential sources of expertise in this area. “I’ve heard colleagues go, ‘Well, that’s an environmental thing, that’s not what we do.’ We can sometimes see ourselves as the regulators of housing or food or whatever silo you want to apply,” says Crouch. Maybe EHPs could go even further, he says, and think about how
“Supporting grassroots action on climate change can impact on national government policy”
Oxford also established a Clean Air Charter in 2018, backed by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. This was a national campaign designed to accelerate adoption of targets around air quality, electric vehicle take-up, and to highlight the damage caused by air pollution to public health. The city planned to pilot a low emissions zone at the end of last year but this has been postponed until later in 2021 due to COVID-19. The plan is to then roll out the project in 2022.
to create a more sustainable and bettergoverned society post-COVID along the lines of doughnut economics. Crouch marvels at the incredible amount that has been achieved in such a short space of time. Over the course of the pandemic, councils have earned themselves a reputation for getting things done. Kevin Frea argues: “Councils have got respect. They may not have had it before, but they’ve certainly – most of them – got it now.” It’s this newfound regard that councils will need to harness, using a more engaged partnership approach with its local community to help it drive forward action on climate change in spite of years of austerity cuts. “Those who are being ambitious have made some really great steps forward. And I think there’s a lot of potential to continue along that path and to make a bigger impact on the future,” says Kierra Box. But she adds that, while there are some big and exciting things councils can do to tackle climate breakdown, they do need to be adequately resourced and supported, as well as held to national targets, by central government. Nick Eyre argues that local government is not even included by central government in discussions around national climate action, which needs to change. FEBRUARY 2021 / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS 15
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This is a concern, as central government has been heavily criticised during the pandemic for its poor implementation of grand schemes. Sir David King, the government’s former chief scientific adviser and chair of the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University, gives a current example: “I’m talking to you from Cambridge, where I live. I cannot buy an electric vehicle in Cambridge for the very simple reason that there is no mechanism for charging a car that is sitting outside my house in a public street. “Council funding around the whole country, of course, has been reduced in recent years since austerity measures were introduced in 2010. And in the face of that, how can city councils put in charging points so we can switch over to electric vehicles – government policy is to switch over to electric vehicles. And yet, if they don’t provide that additional funding to councils to allow this to happen, it’s not going to happen.” King also sees potentially worrying similarities between Westminster’s handling of the pandemic and the climate crisis – and there’s no vaccine
Though famous for its bicycle culture, Cambridge (above) still faces climate challenges, as does historic Stratford-uponAvon (left)
for climate change. During the pandemic so far, King has repeatedly pointed to a piece of work he was involved with that was published in 2006. “If you look at that report,” he says, “you will see that we were predicting that a pandemic, almost exactly as this one happened, would happen in the world before 2030. And therefore the whole point of the exercise was preparedness. “After that, the British government did put funding into this, the WHO put funding into it. And the roll-out from the British government was not bad at all. So by 2010, we had preparations present in our hospitals for a pandemic of this kind – all of the equipment, all of the training, and so on.” However, King says that the coalition and Conservative governments “massively” reduced NHS funding, which hit the health care programme hard. “So basically,” adds King, “when the pandemic arrived, we were completely unprepared for this, whereas we were the first country in the world to put preparations in place. And we had all of the expertise as well. So of course it is a problem that mirrors climate change.”
“Council funding around the whole country has been reduced since austerity measures were introduced” 16 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS / FEBRUARY 2021
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WATC H T H I S SPAC E Under the 2008 Climate Change Act, the UK government must publish a climate change risk assessment every five years. The most recent, in 2017, identified six ‘priority risks and opportunities’. FIVE RISKS LABELLED ‘MORE ACTION NEEDED’: l Flooding and coastal change risks l Risks to health, wellbeing and productivity from high temperatures l Risks of shortages in the public water supply, with impacts on freshwater ecology l Risks to natural capital l Risks to domestic and international food production and trade RISK LABELLED AS A ‘RESEARCH PRIORITY’: l New and emerging pests and diseases, and invasive non-native species The next risk assessment is due in 2022, but this summer the Climate Change Committee will publish its independent evidence report to inform the risk assessment. Keep an eye on ukclimaterisk.org
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However, he does take a hopeful view: “I’m quite positive at the moment because in the last few months, we’ve seen very strong commitment from China, and we’ll have strong commitments in the US now as well. So that’s the two most powerful countries in the world basically coming on board with this agenda.” Yet while Eyre believes central government has got “good targets” in place, the policy for implementation “doesn’t really add up” and the devil will be in the detail. If Westminster, for example, introduces an energy efficiency standard for the PRS but doesn’t fully fund local authorities or give them the regulatory powers, it won’t work. “With the best will in the world, somebody sitting in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in London is not going to enforce these things,” says Eyre. “It needs to be EHPs out on the streets in their area.”
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Legal briefing and prosecutions, 1
LEGAL VERSION
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Moves to make ecocide an international crime
Stop Ecocide campaigners seek powerful legislation to penalise destruction of the environment
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Written by BY ANNE COULON
SHUTTERSTOCK, LISA MALTBY
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ECOCIDE IN THE NORTH PACIFIC GYRE An island made of plastic and bottle tops, thought to be the size of Texas, is making its way from Hawaii to Japan, the Guardian reports
N THE 75TH
anniversary of the Nuremberg trials in November, the Stop Ecocide foundation announced that it was convening a panel of international lawyers to draft a definition of a new international crime – ecocide. Once a definition is crafted, the intention is to seek to amend the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) so that ecocide sits alongside genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression in the list of international crimes that the ICC can prosecute. That would immediately create a powerful way to penalise the destruction of the global environment. The road ahead is long and challenging. Beyond the obvious
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difficulties involved in crafting a legal definition of this new crime, a major obstacle remains: amendments to the Rome Statute (the treaty which established the ICC) must be proposed by a State Party and adopted by a two-thirds majority vote.
GROUNDS FOR HOPE
Seeking consensus on the introduction of an international crime is unlikely to be straightforward. Supporters of the crime of ecocide have grounds for hope, though: its criminalisation does have support from states such as Vanuatu and the Maldives, island nations likely to suffer most from climate change. Other states such as France and Belgium are reported to have offered diplomatic support.
Ecocide is not a novel concept. It has been discussed since the use of chemical weapons during the Vietnam War and, in fact, the question of whether to introduce an offence of causing wilful and severe damage to the environment was discussed during the drafting of the Rome Statute. The growing awareness of environmental issues and climate change could make the difference in persuading enough states to back the current initiative to recognise ecocide as a crime. Once an amendment to the Rome Statute is adopted, that would allow allegations of ecocide to be investigated at the international level. The ICC only has jurisdiction over ‘natural persons’ and as a result cannot prosecute FEBRUARY 2021 / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS 19
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ECOCIDE IN THE AMAZON New laws could lead to prosecutions for the destruction of rainforest
PRO S ECUT IONS This month’s selection of interesting cases and the lessons learned
DIrty preparation areas and poor practices at Henley restaurant
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corporations and public organisations. Instead, the target of any prosecution would be individual corporate decision makers or public officials.
THE ROLE OF THE UK
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The UK is a State Party to the Rome Statute and a long-standing supporter of the ICC. The Rome Statute is an international treaty adopted outside the EU framework and the UK’s status as a State Party will not be affected by Brexit. To date environmental protection has been inadequately enforced. Existing human rights laws which guarantee a right to a healthy environment have had a limited effect. However, innovative attempts are now being made to fill that gap. National courts are part of that process; for example, recent months have seen a coroner in England investigating whether air pollution was a cause of death and courts in France and the Netherlands holding those states accountable in their commitment to reduce greenhouse gases. The move to criminalise ecocide is part of a trend that is likely to continue until effective environmental protection is in place nationally and internationally.
Anne Coulon is a public international lawyer trained in France, Germany and the US. She practices law from Temple Garden Chambers in London, but unusually she is also a member of the New York Bar. 20 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS / FEBRUARY 2021
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Nine charges for Mezo owner for repeatedly flouting hygiene and safety laws AUTHORITY: South Oxfordshire District Council DEFENDANT: Tahsin Kan, sole director of Mezo Restaurant and Café Ltd OUTCOME: £20,000 fine; £2,513.22 costs; £181 victim surcharge OFFENCES UNDER: Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013; Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
HAD A SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION? Please tell us about it: email editor@cieh.org
THE STORY The EH team at South Oxfordshire District Council did all they could to give Tahsin Kan a chance to show he was taking the safety of staff and customers at his new restaurant seriously. But three improvement notices and numerous visits over nine months weren’t enough for him to remedy even the most basic hygiene breaches – such as using the same knives for raw and cooked food or even providing adequate handwashing facilities for staff. So they prosecuted. HOW IT PLAYED OUT Kan pleaded guilty to nine charges – eight relating to food hygiene and one relating to the safety of the kitchen’s gas hob. “There appeared to be a blatant disregard for the law as there were a number of repeat contraventions identified across all areas – hygiene, structure and confidence in management,” said EH officer Richa Parihar. “The
main aspect that really concerned me was that the FBO didn’t or wouldn’t listen and seemed unwilling or incapable of taking on board all the advice, guidance and instruction given to him.” The restaurant closed in 2019. LESSONS LEARNED “The most challenging aspect of this case was striking a balance between public safety and business support,” said Parihar. “The biggest learning point from this case was the variety of skills needed to deal with businesses that struggle but also don’t engage or respond in the way we would like them to. This means we have to make full use of our soft skills as well as our enforcement tools.” Inadequate handwashing facilities
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Legal briefing and prosecutions, 2
Housing team secure hefty fine for landlord over security and fire safety concerns AUTHORITY: Reading Borough Council DEFENDANT: Mohammed Naseer Zamir OUTCOME: £66,000 fine; £4,480 costs; £181 victim surcharge OFFENCES UNDER: Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976; Housing Act 2004
THE STORY Two self-contained flats, apparently – that’s what Reading’s private sector housing team had been told were in a property owned by landlord Mohammed Naseer Zamir. What they found was an HMO in a sorry state with numerous security and fire safety concerns. Unfortunately it was not a surprise to the team. Zamir had been subject to EH enforcement in connection with this property in the past. HOW IT PLAYED OUT Senior EH officer Linda McKenzie and her team were so concerned about fire safety breaches that they asked officers from the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service to do a joint inspection. It was only after the fire service served an enforcement notice that Zamir actually made some improvements to the property.
Poorly maintained electric sockets a fire hazard
LESSONS LEARNED McKenzie said: “This case highlighted the value of joint working – bringing the fire service to an inspection and their subsequent enforcement notice appeared to jolt the defendant into action. Although we would have prosecuted without their input, we might not have achieved the physical improvements to the property in the same timescale.” The cancelling of a PACE interview with Zamir because of COVID-19 caused some difficulty for McKenzie. “As we felt we had sufficient
Tesco to pay £300,000 after worker seriously injured while moving cage of juice cartons
© JAGGERY AT CREATIVE COMMONS
AUTHORITY: Oxford City Council DEFENDANT: Tesco OUTCOME: £300,000 fine; £34,294 costs; £170 victim surcharge OFFENCES UNDER: Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
THE STORY Quick-thinking nightclub staff most likely saved the life of Piotr Grzela, a worker at Tesco Metro on Magdalen Street in Oxford, when he was crushed by a roll cage full of juice cartons that he was unloading from a lorry. He had been crushed against the pavement and suffered two severe fractures to his legs, severed blood vessels and a fracture to his wrist. Oxford City Council’s EH team praised the health and safety and first aid training of staff at the club who came to his aid. HOW IT PLAYED OUT Grzela and another store worker had been unloading deliveries from the lorry on the night of the
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Oxford’s Magdalen Street branch of Tesco Metro where Grzela was crushed
incident. Against guidance, they were moving the roll cages on their own instead of in pairs. Grzela had not received training on moving roll cages and Tesco accepted that he was not trained for that job. Tesco also failed to report the incident for 15 days.
evidence for [other] breaches, we decided to continue to prosecute but dropped an offence of failing to licence that was also originally included, because our evidence was weaker and this was the matter I had particularly wanted to question Mr Zamir on in a PACE interview. “Carrying out PACE interviews in the current pandemic is problematic – with limited office access and appropriate safe space to conduct them – and will be one of the challenges to carrying out enforcement work over the coming months.”
LESSONS LEARNED EH officer Rebecca Jeffries, who worked on the case, said: “Although system failures occurred within Tesco, the training in health and safety and first aid of the nightclub staff and their rapid response to the accident saved Mr Grzela’s legs – and quite possibly his life. Making sure staff are trained and confident with dealing with health and safety and first aid remains as important as ever.” She added: “Even with the biggest companies with huge resources at their disposal and which have primary authorities to deal with things like health and safety, the work that we do as EH officers is essential to protect workers and the public. This was a tragic case that at times was also emotionally difficult for me, but my hope is that a successful prosecution will mean that lessons will be learned, not just in relation to this accident, but with regards to health and safety, training and employee welfare in general.” FEBRUARY 2021 / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS 21
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7 T I P S ON ...
Onboarding remotely
When you can no longer meet new colleagues face to face, how can you integrate them into the team?
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SHUTTERSTOCK, LISA MALTBY
Written by KETAN DATTANI
EFORE MARCH 2020,
I’d never had a team that reported to me remotely. Most of my clients hadn’t either. Even on the food inspection side people will still spend half a day in the office each week. So the current situation is a huge learning curve for everyone. What’s more, the recruitment market is buoyant, with environmental health professionals in extremely high demand, whether it’s for COVID business advice or enforcement, track and
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trace, or port health due to Brexit. Therefore, we need to do everything we can to make the induction process painless.
1. CUT BACK ON THE BUREAUCRACY A lot of the paperwork can be shortened – check to make sure your forms are relevant to that role. If you have a handbook in PDF format, for example, highlight the passages that are most relevant. Remember that signatures can be obtained securely and quickly with DocuSign.
2. GET THE TECH SORTED It is vital to get the necessary technology in place. If it’s hardware, ensure new starters have a laptop or PC delivered in good time for day one. It should be loaded with all the software they’ll need and any passwords and permissions for the servers they’ll need to access.
3. CUSTOMISE YOUR MATERIALS It’s difficult to integrate when you can’t meet your peers or even your line manager. So produce material that relates to their team, even the sub team. Local WWW.CIEH.ORG
authority departments can be huge, with the food team independent of housing and pollution, for example. Create a document so that new starters know their projects, who they need to call and where they can find information on the intranet.
4. GIVE THEM A BUDDY It helps to buddy new starters with a more senior staff member – one who isn’t their line manager and who can be a mentor to them. It gives the new employee the opportunity to ask what they may deem to be a trivial question, without bothering their manager. It also eases anxiety and we find they often bring things to meetings that they’ve discussed as a pair, increasing engagement relatively quickly.
need to be set by the new hire’s manager. It’s also imperative that the manager has a one-to-one weekly meeting, separate from any group meeting, so that any potential issues can be resolved. A new employee may have a lot of questions so all communication lines need to be open.
ABOUT THE WRITER Ketan Dattani is the founder and CEO of Buckingham Futures, a specialist environmental health recruitment business that provides recruitment and consultancy solutions to public and private sector employers. Ketan has a Master’s in Environmental Planning and Management.
6. USE SOCIAL MEDIA
5. SET SPECIFIC GOALS
Many companies have a social media page, so it’s important
Specific goals and expectations
to signpost people to it to see what’s going on. Likewise it’s a good idea to highlight sectorspecific hashtags, such as #chooseenvironmentalhelp, so new staff learn what’s happening in that sector, not just within their own individual teams. It’s also something to discuss with their mentor and the wider team.
7. GET TO KNOW THEM I encourage weekly meetings that are not work-related just to catch up with everyone. People are struggling with home schooling and everyone’s got a lot on their plate, so it’s a case of being empathetic. Just ask ‘How’s it going?’ and ‘What are your plans for the weekend?’ We have quiz nights online and we do drinks. We’re all on Zoom at the same time and it helps us to bond as a team.
SPOT L IG HT ON C I E H ON L I N E EVE N TS We might not be able to meet in person at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped the CIEH events team doing all they can to make sure you get the training you need to do your job effectively. They have developed a range of short, Bitesize training: COVID marshals 3 February Bitesize training: fundamentals of building and construction (module 1) 4 February Bitesize training: fundamentals of building and construction (module 2) 4 February Housing coffee and catch up 4 February Bitesize training: COVID marshals (PM)
4 February Bitesize training: COVID marshals 4 February Bitesize training: COVID marshals 5 February CIEH conversations: COVID Q&A 8 February Management of noise at outdoor music events 9 February HMO practical inspection 11 February Bitesize training: statutory
BOOK www.cieh.org/events
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sharp modules alongside more in-depth sessions, all online, all delivered by expert partners and educators. Here’s what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks. For a full calendar of activities, go to www.cieh.org/events nuisance in a post-COVID-19 world 11 February Bitesize training: fundamentals of building and construction (module 3) 16 February Port health coffee and catch up 18 February
NEW CHARTERED EHPS The first EHPs to have completed CIEH’s new chartered programme were celebrated at an online graduation ceremony in December. The 23 newly chartered practitioners began their journey in September 2018, the first to embark on a new programme of online learning, competency-based assessment and appraisal. So congratulations to: Valerie Awua, Karen Benson, Anneliese Charlton, Louise
Daley, Julien Diaz, Harry Dowker, Stuart Goodbun, Nathan Kirwan, Benedicta Lawson, Phillipa Long, Jeff Mbaruiti, Emma O’Hagan, Simon Osborn, Ian Reader, Mark Savage-Brookes, Silvren St Hellen, Tyler Wray, Parth Jaswal, Vicky Ellis, Jane Kelsall, Carl Griffin, Elizabeth Jakeman and Scott Thirkettle Interested in becoming chartered? Find out more at www.cieh.org/membership/ chartered-status
FEBRUARY 2021 / ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS 23
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Careers, 1
Your career
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A changing tide for cruises Coronavirus presented Emily Barton, a public health manager for cruise company Carnival Maritime, with a perfect storm of challenges
CLIENT
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’VE BEEN WORKING
for Carnival Maritime in the cruise industry for about 18 months and had just got settled in the role when COVID hit. When I look back those first six months were delightful. They were totally focused on the wider aspects of environmental health with an emphasis on compliance with EU legislation and the external inspections that we receive from port health authorities. My role is classed as ‘shoreside’ and in normal times I’d be going onto ships every other week for a few days at a time with the aim of assessing the standards onboard, then returning shoreside and improving the procedural requirements. You have to be operational and my role has a very strong operational aspect. If you’re not in the field, on the ships, seeing what’s happening, you can’t then go away and develop concepts to improve things. My usual role is to travel on cruise ships to investigate outbreaks of communicable disease and foodborne illness, maintain water safety, pest management and food safety standards and to respond to any forms of non-compliance. I also train and educate the crew, develop new procedures
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“One day we might be focusing on food safety, the next dealing with a pest infestation” and concepts and perform internal public health inspections. I also prepare the ships and ensure compliance with various international health requirements according to the international waters in which our ships travel, including EU SHIPSAN, the US Public Health’s Vessel Sanitation Program and the Brazilian ANVISA. One day we might be focusing on improving our food safety management system, the next dealing with a pest infestation. It’s also proactive in that we develop guidance and training for our crew
members who play a vital role in the upkeep of the standards onboard. It’s not a role where any enforcement is used; instead we use empowerment, education, awareness-raising, health promotion and negotiation. You have to use a wide range of soft skills to communicate the same message: ‘What is the risk if I don’t do this?’ You can develop internal procedures but you can’t have eyes on all the ships. At full strength we have 26 vessels and each can have around 200 crew members. It’s about improving the long-term culture of public and environmental health onboard so that it’s sustainable. An extra layer of complexity comes from the fact Carnival Maritime is a multicultural company. I’m based in Germany, we could have a ship in Spain, and I could be dealing with colleagues from India or Malaysia. As well as language barriers, we need to understand cultural and societal norms. What’s more, the infrastructure and standards that we have in Germany or the UK are not applicable worldwide, yet we’re dealing with colleagues from across the globe. Much of the challenge is trying to uphold standards onboard and this is where your skills as an educator come to the fore.
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Front line Emily Barton, 1
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Carnival Maritime has a fleet of 26 cruise ships
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“Ships are branded as incubators of infectious disease. This is a stigma we strive to overcome” THEN ALONG CAME COVID…
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There’s no denying that the impact of COVID has been significant and we’ve had to learn to work with it. Going forward, we are trying to establish a new norm on how we are able to manage the risks. It’s about understanding that there will be times when we will be faced with a challenge and making sure that we are prepared in our response. We’ve had to consider health and hygiene measures that were already in place, then looked at how we could develop them further. Some land-based public and environmental health principles transfer well onboard, such as handwashing, which we’ve always promoted because of the risk of norovirus, but even more so now with COVID. We’ve also been focusing on face mask usage, physical distancing and health promotion, raising awareness of signs and symptoms and the importance of reporting illness. We’re also prompting behavioural change in guests, whether it’s encouraging them to take their temperature, bring spare face masks or use hand sanitiser. We have our role to play, but every single person onboard has a role to play in trying to protect against COVID-19. A cruise ship is a closed or semi-closed environment and it’s also home to its crew members. Shoreside, if you identified a public health risk you could close the premises down but you can’t close a cruise ship down when it’s somebody’s home; you have to be able to adapt and to work around what you’re presented with.
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Ships are notoriously branded as incubators of infectious disease because you have guests from all over the world who mix intimately and intensively while onboard. This is a stigma we strive to overcome. There’s not really another environment in the world like it where there’s such a turnover of guests, yet you have one constant onboard – the crew. Cruise ships produce their own water, make food on a mass scale and have their own hospitals onboard – they really are like floating cities, which is why they’re so unique, and the measures that are applied to them have to acknowledge that. Much of that comes down to the effective communication of risks.
SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION
L EAR N I NG POI N T S DO YOU HAVE A TALE TO SHARE? Email editor@cieh.org
Patient safety is paramount – but NHS workers must stay safe too
DO YOU HAVE A TALE TO SHARE? Email editor@cieh.org
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As well as a holiday hotel, a cruise ship is home to its crew
YOU HAVE TO GET PEOPLE ON BOARD In terms of 1 encouraging behavioural change, it’s the importance of “don’t just do as I say because it’s a requirement,” but do as I say, because you understand your role and the impact you can have. IT TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT Much of my time is 2 spent staying up to date with industry guidance from bodies such as the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, as well as our national health authorities. In Germany, for example, it’s the Robert Koch Institute, which is the equivalent to Public Health England. My role is to provide my company with the best and most diligent public health advice I can and I can only do that if I keep up to date with what’s out there by reading, studying and learning.
I’m pleased to say that all our hard work is paying off. We are the first unit in the Carnival Corporation to restart operations with guests onboard. Ultimately, although I’m an EHP, this is a different type of front line that we’re not used to hearing about in the UK. It’s one of a rare few in the Emily Barton sets sail private sector that still has environmental health roles. So, while we’ve been successful, it remains a supremely demanding role. The cruise industry doesn’t go to sleep. It doesn’t close its doors at 5pm and open again at 9am. Support has to be offered continuously. There’s no doubt it’s been a demanding and challenging few months – I even dream about it in my sleep – but it has been character-building.
THE JOB IS REWARDING I’ve discovered that 3 environmental health offers a diverse and rewarding working environment like no other that goes far beyond the realms of local authorities.
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Front line Emily Barton, 2
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