Office of Environmental Community Health
| What We Do | ||
| Office of Environmental Community Health (OECH) staff assist EQC staff with maintaining the agency’s goal of “Healthy People Living in Health Communities.” Under the direction of the Community Liaison, staff is responsible for the following: | ||
| Community Liaison | ||
| The EQC Community Liaison coordinates the risk communication program within the Office of Environmental Quality Control. She is the key contact for citizens who have questions or concerns about environmental activities in their communities and possible health effects. | ||
| Risk Communication | ||
| OECH staff assists EQC staff with communicating and interacting constructively with citizens upon request. They moderate and facilitate public meetings, provide mediation whether it be due to conflict or a need for further dialogue among stakeholders, and provide consultation to EQC staff on communication skills, particularly risk communication and public participation. OECH staff is responsible for listening to citizens’ concerns and forwarding them to the appropriate program staff for response; staff is available to receive calls from citizens through its toll-free number. OECH staff plans and implements the Agency’s response to individuals’ and communities’ concerns regarding environmental issues and/or their health. Because staff’s role consists largely of communicating with the public, staff serves on the EQC Education and Outreach Committee. | ||
| Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance Program | ||
| The Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance (ABLES) program maintains a statewide Adult Lead Poisoning Registry. The program was established in 1995 under a cooperative agreement between DHEC and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Staff is responsible for gathering and evaluating data on elevated blood lead levels in adults obtained by the employers, investigating where and how the exposure occurred on the job, works with the State Childhood Lead Program to identify family members at risk from occupational take-home lead, refers all parties affected with blood lead level above 40 mcg/dl to follow-up care, and provides educational materials on lead exposure. | ||
| Public Participation Task Force | ||
“A full range of actions and processes that EQC uses to involve the public in our work.” (EQC Public Participation Task Force) |
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| EQC values the public and believes that their perceptions are real and that they are our partner in protecting the health and the environment. Therefore, EQC administration supported the establishment of a committee that was initially established to look at how we use plain language. OECH staff initiated the formation of the EQC Public Participation Task Force and currently provides administrative support. Once the committee met, they quickly realized additional work needed to be done on how we inform and receive input from our stakeholders. Work groups were developed for each program area and consist of staff from central office as well as regional office staff. Each was charged with looking at how they presently conduct public participation, how it can be improved, and what resources are needed to make those improvements. Across the board they all said they needed additional training and the culture needs to change first within the agency. "An Introduction to Public Participation" video (Video File (1338 kbps, 24.4 MB Runtime = 3 minutes, 51 seconds), Video File (725 kbps, 13.2 MB Runtime = 3 minutes, 51 seconds) was developed to assist with educating staff on the public participation initiative. OECH staff prepared a curriculum to teach along with the video. Also additional training is available on risk communication, basic communication, public participation, etc. A public participation survey was recently taken by EQC staff to benchmark the understanding of public participation by EQC staff. EQC believes that our mission of protecting public health and the environment will be improved through enhanced public involvement. As the task force continues to meet, OECH staff will strive to assist staff with meeting the goals of the task force. |
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| S.C. Environmental Justice Advisory Committee | ||
| Act 171, which passed the S. C. General Assembly in 1997, mandates that a governmental advisory committee be created to S. C. DHEC. The advisory committee consists of a commissioner, executive director, or executive head of each department or such head's designee from the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Transportation, the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health, Clemson University's Public Service Authority, South Carolina State University's Public Service Authority, and the State Ports Authority. The Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee of the Department of Health and Environmental Control shall serve as the chairperson of the advisory committee but shall not have a vote. OECH will also provide administrative and technical support to this committee. | ||
| Who We Are | ||
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| Where We Are | |||
| The Office of Environmental Community Health is housed within the Environmental Quality Control’s (EQC) Administration Office. Our Office’s Mailing Address is: |
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EQC Administration DHEC 2600 Bull Street Columbia, South Carolina 29201 1-888-848-7241 (Toll-Free Line) 803-896-8941 (fax) |
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