Published: August 24, 2008 08:20 pm         

Panel eyes exam for sanitarians

CHARLESTON — A move is afoot in the Legislature to compel sanitarians in West Virginia to pass a national test so they can become formally licensed to practice their skill.

An outline of a proposal was presented Sunday to members of Government Organization Subcommittee B, co-chaired by Delegate Sam Argento, D-Nicholas.

Argento drew on his vast experience — 28 years, to be exact — as a sanitarian to help work out the legislation with the Board of Public Health and staff attorneys.

“We wanted to make it more professionally oriented,” Argento explained afterward. “After all, you do have to have a four-year college degree.”

One cannot simply decide to enter the profession without a degree, since the job covers a wide array of health-based missions, Argento pointed out.

A sanitarian not only is involved with duties solely within the public sector but also must work on food service, air quality, and hazardous materials, the delegate said. For the most part, sanitarians work at some level of government in West Virginia.

And, at times, the sanitarian comes in contact with the world of illegal drug trafficking.

Argento pointed out that related legislation enacted a year ago compels the health board to inspect a house once used as an illegal methamphetamine laboratory to decide if it passes muster for future occupancy.

“When I first started, we used to inspect the landfills,” he said. “So there are many different disciplines you get involved with out there. Some of them you don’t want to do, but it’s part of the job.”

Lacking a quorum, the committee was unable to act on the proposed legislation, which would add a third tier to the profession — that of licensed sanitarian.

Existing layers are sanitarians in training, and the certified class, it was explained.

“The way it is now, before sanitarians can actually practice in West Virginia, and do regulatory inspections, they have to complete 300 hours of training, which is something unique to West Virginia,” Argento said. “We have one of the best training programs in the nation. We don’t just hire sanitarians and throw them out on the job.”

After successful completion of 300 hours of board-required training, they are known as “sanitarians in training.”

“They can remain a sanitarian in training no more than three years, at which time they become a certified sanitarian,” Argento said.

Sanitarians could move up to the next level, that of being certified, but the proposed bill calls for passage of a national exam. Because it is a standardized test, Argento advised the committee, a sanitarian’s license would be applicable in other states, and nonresidents who are licensed could work in West Virginia.

Existing law doesn’t require passage of the national certification test.

“You could remain a sanitarian in training for the life of your career for 20 to 30 years,” Argento said. “We didn’t feel like that was appropriate.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com