Health and Safety

Safe workplaces are created by people who care. Your health and safety in the workplace is protected by Nova Scotia's Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations. We are a key part of Nova Scotia's Workplace Safety and Insurance System. Our staff promote, coordinate, administer, and enforce occupational health and safety for you.
Staff Listing by Branch and Region

Our Goal: To establish and enforce clear standards to reduce occupational injury and illness.

Contact us:

General Inquiries and Reporting
Toll-free: 1-800-952-2687 (24 hours)
Halifax Metro: 902-424-5400 (Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. only)
E-mail: ohsdivision@gov.ns.ca

OHS Knowledge Base

Feature Items

OHS News

NEW - Occupational Health and Safety Act Convictions

A new list features information on convictions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act from the past five years, including the convicted employer or person, the offence and the penalty. It will be on the department’s website and updated quarterly.

NEW - Information on changes to Occupational Health and Safety Regulations

  • Summary of Changes to OH&S Regulations. A five page pdf file of recent amendments to the OSGR and newly enacted Workplace Health and Safety Regulations. This information is provided for your convenience only and cannot be relied on in place of the regulations; it is not exhaustive, not all changes are identified here.

  • "Consolidated Regs" a pdf file of the PowerPoint presentation given at the recently held (last week of May) public information sessions

NEW - Workplace Health and Safety Regulations, effective June 12, 2013

  • The new Workplace Health and Safety Regulations (WHS) will come into effect June 12, 2013. The WHS regulations contain the new and amended requirements for fall protection, rope access work, scaffolding, occupational health, and temporary workplaces on highways and will replace the current Fall Protection and Scaffolding Regulations, Occupational Health Regulations and Temporary Workplace Traffic Control Regulations. Eventually all OHS regulations, except the Underground Mining Regulations, will become part of the WHS regulations. For your convenience and to familiarize yourself with new regulations please go to WHS Regulations, to view a scanned copy of N.S. Reg. 52/2013 (WHS), as filed with the Registry of Regulations.

NEW - Occupational Safety General Regulations (OSGR), amended effective June 12, 2013

  • With the introduction of the new Workplace Health and Safety Regulations (WHS) coming into effect June 12, 2013, the existing Occupational Safety General Regulations were amended to ensure consistency across the regulations. For your convenience and to familiarize yourself with the amendments please go to OSGR. NOTE: this consolidation is unofficial and is for reference only. For the official version of the regulation, consult the original documents on file with the Registry of Regulations, or as published in the Royal Gazette Part II.

NEW - Hygiene Consultant Reports: What to Expect

  • The Division has created a guideline document on what to expect in a Hygiene Consultant Report

Employer Alert:

Hazard Alert:

Training:

Occupational Health and Safety Trust Fund

Occupational Health and Safety Administrative Penalties