Chartered Institute of Environmental Health

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) is a charitable, educational, and advocacy group for environmental health issues with headquarters in London, England. It also has branches in Northern Ireland, Wales, United Arab Emirates, and, through its local affiliate, Environmental Health Testing, the United States. It also operates through designated partners in China.

CIEH develops standards for environmental health workers, accredits courses in environmental health education, provides information on environmental health issues to policymakers and the general public, and advocates for certain environmental health policies and practices.

CIDH currently has about 10,000 members worldwide. A number of levels of membership are available within the organization, including student, associate, accredited associate, graduate, voting, fellowship, and Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner. Membership levels are determined by one's education and experience in the field of environmental health. International memberships are also available to individuals working in the field of environmental health outside of the United Kingdom. Members of the CIEH also belong to one of a dozen of regional divisions within the United Kingdom, including London, Scotland, Cymru-Wales, East Midlands, and Yorkshire and Humber. Members may also choose to belong to one of a number of special interest groups, such as Port Health, Commercial and Independent, International Special Interest, and Education and Research.

CIEH traces its history to the work of social reformer Edwin Chadwick in the 1840s. Chadwick spent most of his adult life trying to reform England's Poor Laws and improve the conditions in which much of the British population lived at the time. Chadwick's efforts were largely responsible for adoption of the Public Health Act of 1848, which provided for the appointment of so-called Nuisance Inspectors to monitor health conditions in England. In 1883, these inspectors joined together to form the Association of Public Sanitary Inspectors, which evolved over the years into today's CIEH. The organization received its royal charter in 1984, from whence has come its modern name.

CIEH has a long history of involvement in the training of environmental health workers dating to 1891, when the revised Public Health Act established a requirement that sanitary inspectors pass an examination for a special certificate in Sanitary Health Inspection. The existing form of the CIEH at the time was responsible for administering that examination and accrediting graduates of the program. Adoption of the national health care program in 1974 transferred all public health responsibilities to the national government, but environmental health issues have remained largely the concern of local governments under the guidance and support of the CIEH.

After well over a century in existence, CIEH is now widely recognized as one of the world's leading educational and advocacy group in the field of environmental health.

See also Climate change ; Food safety ; Housing .