The community hears about the Health Department’s Environmental Program and thinks, “Oh, you mean the health inspector.” 

People may be familiar with our work in restaurants but do not realize the extent of all we do to ensure our community here in Barry County has access to safe and clean food, water, childcare facilities, and lodging establishments. 

Yes, we are often seen in restaurants doing routine inspections of food establishments. We use these interactions to educate food service employees, based on what is seen during these inspections. With this we can improve their food safety procedures to protect the public. No food establishment wants to make their customers sick with their food practices; however, if someone has such an encounter at a food establishment a confidential complaint can be submitted to the Health Department. 

Environmentalists will then conduct a prompt investigation. If our community does experience a food borne outbreak, our environmentalists are onsite to work closely with public health nurses and state officials to conduct a comprehensive investigation. When there is an emergency involving food establishments, such as power outages due to tornados, a fire or a flood event, our environmentalists are there to help ensure a safe facility. 

We provide guidance for when it is safe to reopen, and the best practices to prevent food that has become compromised from being consumed by the public. 

To help protect our community’s drinking and recreational waters the citizens of Barry County established an ordinance in 1996 requiring property owners to effectively treat their wastewater. To facilitate clean water, our environmentalists, work with homeowners and septic installers to ensure both new and existing homes have onsite septic systems. This is important to ensure wastewater is properly treated before it gets into our drinking water, lakes, and streams. 

Environmentalist issue permits for septic system installations or repairs, and conduct complaint investigations when members of the community may be having a system failure. Copies of these permitted systems are then kept on file at the Health Department and available upon request.

Individuals who are on private wells should be confident that their wells are providing safe water. A water sample can be submitted to our office for in-house testing. In addition, our environmentalists collect water samples from wells that offer water to the public on a routine basis. Changes in a home’s plumbing or well pump, flooding and droughts can all have an impact on the water we drink. We recommend getting your private well tested at least once a year to ensure the water it provides is safe to drink. 

Children are more likely to get sick from their environment and shared illnesses. Their bodies and immune systems are not fully developed making them more susceptible to disease and environmental hazards, such as lead, that can have lasting effects. 

Our environmentalists work with the State Health Department to ensure the childcare facilities in Barry County are safe places for our children. We conduct inspections of childcare facilities to help identify safety hazards in the facilities, and educate providers on food safety and disease prevention practices to keep children safe.

To protect our community and those visiting our beautiful area of the state, our Environmentalists also work with the State Health Department to ensure lodging establishments are clean and safe. We routinely inspect lodging establishments to ensure they have the appropriate fire and building safety measures in place, pools are being maintained to prevent waterborne illnesses from occurring, and sanitary cleaning practices are being used to prevent the spread of disease and pests. 

It is our goal to prevent through education, investigate with dedication and help be one small part of what makes our community a safe place to live.

Publisher’s note: This article is courtesy of Barry County Health Department, located at 90 Barry County Drive in Cassville. The Department may be reached at 417-847-2114.