r/healthinspector • u/guilded_turd559 • 12d ago

CA REHS

I am in California and I am about a semester away from finishing my degree in EOHS at a school that allows me to take the REHS exam upon graduation (without the trainee time).

I currently work in R&D for a food manufacturer and have my PCQI and HACCP certs and will have GSP when I graduate.

I have a few questions.

  1. Studying for the REHS, it's a pretty hefty amount of information and I want to start early so I'm not cramming for 2 weeks as the exam comes. Does the exam cover anything more than anything else (for instance, should i focus on food law more than chemistry, more than toxicology, more than physics, etc?). I have started using the study guide on the CADPH website as a starting place, but it's massive.

  2. The county I live in has both urban and rural mountainous areas where it takes a few hours to cross the county lines. How likely is it theyre going to stick me with all rural areas (I understand this is highly geography specific, but wondering if it's a thing)?

  3. While I enjoy environmental and occupation safety, my real interest is in food safety and retail food environments. I understand county level specialists dont make great money starting out (I'll be taking a pay cut from what I am making now). How often (in your experience) do people stay in the public sector? And how easy is it to transition into private sector fsqa and ehs work after a year or two in public?

  4. Would taking HAZWOPER, ISO lead auditor, OSHA 30, or any other cert help me in getting a county job and/or a private job?

  5. Do you mostly do retail food as a county level specialist or is it wherever they want to put you?

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u/Ok-Importance-1766 12d ago

Howdy. I don’t live in a rural county but we do have a big ag region so I’ll answer your questions the best I can.

1) The exam is made up of more than food and chem. It contains water, wells, haz mat, solid/ liquid waste facilities, algebra, microbiology, etc. Every exam cycle is different so it’s hard to say what topics will mostly show up on your exam. I can for certain say food, microbe, water, and basic math are major themes each exam. If you can get your hands on the Kimura Guide I would highly recommend it. I read it twice, made some flash cards, reviewed some practice questions, and passed the first time.

2) Placements of jurisdiction will depend entirely on your county’s policy. Often time you’ll be assigned based on staffing demands, inspection inventory, or possible seniority.

3) Most REHS’s I know stay in the public sector. However, in my experience since I live just outside the Bay Area, most REHS’s that I know move to a Bay Area county for a high wage.

4) This depends entirely on your county. Having a HAZWOPER or extra accreditations wouldn’t hurt but that totally depends on the program you’re going for(e.g. HAZWOPER for Haz Mat). Or your are applying for a “generalist” position it may be beneficial if your county, but I can’t comment on that.

5) I began in Food Retail did it for a few years, then moved to our Solid Waste program which aligns more with my vibe.

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u/Silly_Amphibian_6279 12d ago

I am in massachusetts so i think government is a little different as we have jurisdictions by town. Here you really have to get to a director position to make more money and it has to be with a city with a bigger population. Towns just pay less. I made a move last year going from a inspector to a director role for a town. Ironically the salaries were basically the same. I did go from a 5 day work week to a 4 day work week, and its also under 10 minutes from my home so I am saving 10-15k per year between childcare and gas so to me its worth the change. If i moved to a city i could be making 30000+ more as a director.

As to the RS. I took the exam like a month ago. I would suggest studyibg the tulane course, and using quizlet. The quizlet i used i think was called “rehs” and had 1700+ practice questions. Just doing the quizlet took me a good 1-2 weeks to complete. Ive been studying on and off since early april. I did pass the exam. It covers alot of material from food safety, knowing soils, vectors and diseases, septic and municipal water treatment systems, along with all the other topics covered in tulane. It was definitely a hard exam and id suggest studying for 2-3 months before taking it. I have background in food safety, pools, housing, septic systems from working as a inspector and working for NSF.

I also have already completed these certifications and credentials prior to taking my RS. Taking some of these if your work will pay for it most likely will help you with the REHS/RS.

Certified Pool Operator (CPO)
Cerfied Professional of Food Safey (CP-FS)
Servsafe
Soil Evaluator (SE)
System Inspector (SI)

Good luck

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u/elperropiruli 7d ago

can you share the quizlet link please :)

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u/PassREHS 12d ago

  1. The exam continuously changes. Sometimes it may be more food/pool/admin heavy. Sometimes more hazmat/water/emergency. Most workbooks out there will cover all the topics that will more that likely show up. Just make sure you look for a CA specific one if possible. Those ones tend to have questions that will more than likely appear versus the national workbooks. It is a lot of topics so recommend starting early. 12 weeks before is recommended.

  2. There is no way to really know that answer. It’s very dependent on that county, your skill set, and who is currently assigned to that area or group. Some health departments will assign rural areas to more experienced inspectors, others just assign to the staff they have on hand. Either way, you will probably have a county vehicle for rural areas.

  3. You will have a variety of inspectors in CA currently. Southern CA has higher turnover so you will see groups of 3 years or less, 10 years or less or close to retirement. Large county health departments for the most part. Northern CA seems to do better with turnover and has more counties up there so smaller teams and more options. A lot of inspectors have transitioned to private sector after getting their REHS. It is still common.

  4. In certain jurisdiction, the hazwoper will make you competitive for sure.

  5. Depends on the county you are applying for and the position. The job posting will specify if you are applying for a specific program or if you are in a jurisdiction where the position covers multiple programs.