History of Society

The Society of Environmental Health, Singapore was founded in 1977. It’s original name was the Society of Public Health Inspectors. In keeping abreast with international trend and to better reflect the role of its members, the Society’s name was changed to the Society of Environmental Health Officers in 1996. In 1997, the Society decided to drop the word ‘officers’ from its name to open up its membership to people in the private sector who are involved in environmental health work.

The Society was formed with the following objectives:

1. to improve the knowledge of the members in the field of environmental health science and other related fields
2. to promote the welfare and interest of the members professionally
3. to contribute wherever possible to the environmental health services of the Republic of Singapore
   

During the initial years, the Society’s membership was less than 100 and the members were inactive. In 1984 the Society published its first Journal and began making contact with its counterparts in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. It hosted its first joint seminar with the then Australian Institute of Health Surveyors (now known as the Australian Institute of Environmental Health). Today the Society boasts a membership of 350, consisting of people in the Govt service as well as the private sector, including a corporate member. The Society is also a founding member of the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH), which was formed in 1986.

In recent years, the Society has been very proactive, conducting courses on basic and advanced food hygiene for personnels in the food trade. The Society also conducted a number of seminars and workshops on HACCP and other topics in the environmental health field.

To widen the scope of its members, the Society has participated in many international and regional conferences in Australia, Europe and the USA.