Checking public health is a never-ending task

When the Magistri Sanitatis was set up in 1538, it monitored the construction of sewage and drinking water systems but, five centuries on, environmental health officers cover homes, work and publicplaces. Sarah Carabott joins a kitchen and water inspection at a local hotel. Loaded with checklists, previous audit notes, testing equipment and hygienic wear, environmental health officer Dennis Grech and principal Alistair Lowell head to a busy hotel kitchen. They need to check apertures and ceiling conditions, food traceability documents and make sure food handlers are wearing overalls and have passed all necessary courses. They will also be on the lookout for wash-hand basins, which should be separate from cutlery and crockery basins, just as raw and cooked food is stored separately in fridges and freezers. It takes the officers four hours to inspect every crevice and corner, go through documents mapping where pest baits have been set up, test freezer temperatures and make sure chefs are using the right chopping boards. The officers even check that the pest control company’s treatment records are in place and that there is no risk of chemical contamination. The hotel is also...