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Course Syllabus

Course Contents

Chapter 1. Legal Bases

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Chapter 2. Legal Tools

Lesson 5

Lesson 6

Lesson 7

Lesson 8

Lesson 9

Chapter 3. Enforcement

Lesson 10

Lesson 11

Lesson 12

Lesson 13

Chapter 4. Liability

Lesson 14

2007 - 2008
Syllabus

Lesson 1. Law and Environmental Health


This lesson is a general introduction to the course. It is intended to provide a description of the course to the student and to explain what is expected of the students. Before we begin looking at law and how it affects the practice of environmental health, it is first necessary to establish the framework within which our discussions will take place. That is, what are the activities which environmental health specialists perform as a result of their position in a regulatory agency, and what is the nature of these activities which bring the practitioners into contact with law and the legal system. We will begin by briefly discussing what it is that environmental health practitioners do in the course of their job which might bring them in to contact with legal questions and the legal system.
In succeeding lessons in the course we will explore in more depth the issues and concepts raised, and some of the laws, policies, methods and activities which affect, or have been affected, by these issues.

Lesson Objective

The major objective of this lesson is to provide you with a conceptual framework for understanding the basic nature of environmental health practice as it is conducted in health departments, environmental protection agencies and occupational health and safety organizations, and how questions of law affect the day-to-day activities of these agencies in our society.

Lesson Assignment

  1. Grad: Chapter 1 — The Purpose of This Manual, pp. 3-7.
  2. Reading #1 - Senn CA. "Environmental Sanitation Control", Public Health Reports, 79(8):683-688.

Lesson Outline

  1. Introduction
    1. Course Description
    2. Purpose and Objectives
    3. Policies and Requirements
    4. Course Materials
  2. Nature of Environmental Health Services
    1. Types of Activities
    2. Procedures
    3. Relation to Law
  3. Law and Environmental Health
    1. Administrative Law
    2. Procedural Requirements
    3. Balancing of Rights and Interests

Key Points

References / Additional Readings

  1. Gellhorn E, Levin RM. Introduction, Administrative Law and Process in a Nutshell, West Publishing Co., 1990, pp. 1-7
  2. Freedman, Ben, "The History of the Sanitarian and Chronology of Events in Sanitary Hygiene", Chapter II in The Sanitarian's Handbook [4th Ed.], Peerless Publishing Co., New Orleans, 1977, pp. 1-12.
  3. Freedman, Ben, "Public Health and the Sanitarian's Work", Chapter III in The Sanitarian's Handbook [4th Ed.], Peerless Publishing Co., New Orleans, 1977, pp. 21-34.
  4. Salvato, Joseph A., "Administration", Chapter 12 in Environmental Engineering and Sanitation [3rd Ed.], J. Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1982, pp. 1026-1089.
  5. Grad, Frank P., "An Effective Enforcement Program", American Journal of Public Health, 1969, 59(6):947-952.

Progress Assessment Exercise

Please proceed to Lesson 2. Development of Environmental Health Laws
Send mail to: ctreser@u.washington.edu
Last modified: 01/06/2008 10:05 am