Outcomes

A central website and toolkit will be developed to house national and state guidelines, along with published research and literature – making it easier and safer for Environmental Health Officers to complete their work.

Background and purpose

Environmental Health Officers have many roles in local government public health.

One of these tasks is dealing with clandestine laboratories – that is, labs manufacturing illicit drugs such as methamphetamine.

Following notification from the police, it is the council officer’s role to make sure no one enters the contaminated area until it has been tested, cleaned up and given the green light for safety.

The current guidelines for cleaning up after drug labs are investigated can be vague and open to interpretation. This often requires council officers to do additional research before acting.

As the methamphetamine ‘testing and decontamination’ industry isn't regulated and doesn't have an accreditation body, officers need accurate information from a trustworthy source.

This project will develop a central and easy to access set of resources for council officers to use.

Who is this for?

This project is for Environmental Health Officers in councils to help them better manage clandestine labs in their area.

How the project is being delivered

This project is being led by Flinders University with support from Environmental Health Australia.

It will build on past research about best practices for protecting public health, particularly when dealing with methamphetamine-contaminated properties.

This research will be based on interviews with Environmental Health Officers to determine how they manage the regulations and processes in place.

Research will be done with business owners in the methamphetamine testing and decontamination industry on the state of regulation.

These interviews, along with a body of research, will inform the development of a website which contains guidelines and documentation to support Environmental Health Officers.