Government of Nova Scotia expanding safety division

The Nova Scotia government is expanding its occupational health and safety division as part of ongoing efforts to improve workplace safety.
A new outreach unit and 12 new positions are being created to focus on education, enforcement and compliance. These positions include senior directors, outreach and compliance staff and an engineer. These are in addition to the five new safety inspectors the province is hiring to help with more targeted inspections.

"Our vision is to make the safety branch even stronger," said Labour and Advanced Education Minister Kelly Regan. "This is another step in making Nova Scotia a safer place to work. We need to support our staff so they can support Nova Scotia workers and employers."

These changes, and several others, are being made as part of the province's workplace safety strategy and align with the auditor general's recommendations to improve the province's health and safety services.

The province is also working with industry to ensure officers are getting to more high-risk workplaces, improving compliance processes, and hiring a prosecutor who will focus solely on occupational health and safety.

List of new positions:

• a new education and outreach unit, four new staff
• director of technical and outreach services
• five new inspectors
• an engineer
• new senior director of compliance and inspection services
• two new regional directors (central and northern regions) of compliance and inspection services
• two compliance and inspection coordinators focused on the auditor general's recommendations
• one clerical staff