In terms of health hazards, the average hockey fan is probably more worried about pucks flying into the stands than the ice machine cleaning the ice.

But that same fan doesn't know public health inspectors actually monitor exhaust emissions from those ice machines, which, in an enclosed space like a rink, can be the same as running a car in a closed garage for a long time.

Recognizing the work of public health inspectors and environmental health officers everywhere is the focus of Environmental Health Week, running Jan. 3-9, 2004.

"Basically, anything to do with public health is us," said Ken Cross, president of the Saskatchewan branch for the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI).

This is the first time the week has ever been put on by CIPHI across the country. The idea rose a few years ago, said Cross, out of a need to better educate the public about their role in public health.

Public health inspectors and environmental health officers are essentially the front line of defence for public health, said Cross, as they provide services in food safety, drinking water quality, rental housing conditions, recreational water safety, playground safety, prevention of food-borne illness, and outbreak management.

In everyday situations, this can translate to checking furnaces for fresh air intakes, doing rabies investigations after someone is bit by an animal or monitoring hotels and restaurants.

And yet, most people are unaware of what they do, and in what situations public health inspectors can be called upon.

"We're basically the hidden profession," said Cross.