The Environmental Health and Food Safety Division works to prevent disease and injuries related to environments where people live, play and gather. We do this by identifying, assessing and controlling factors that affect human health in our built and natural world.
At Nova Scotia Environment, members of this team coordinate the assessment and response to reported or suspected health hazards in many settings and situations. These include housing, public swimming pools, personal service settings (i.e., nail, hair or tattoo salons), beaches, arenas and myriad other settings or conditions.
Our inspectors also conduct compliance inspections related to tobacco sales, tobacco use, tanning facilities and snow sport helmet use.
This work is based on several important pieces of legislation designed to protect the health of Nova Scotians. These include:
- Health Protection Act
- Tanning Beds Act
- Snow Sport Helmet Act
- Tobacco Access Act
- Smoke-free Places Act
- Safe Body Art Act
In addition to the work above, environmental health consultants provide information to the public on a wide range of environmental public health topics including:
- Housing
- Tattooing, piercing and other personal services
- Swimming pools and recreational water
- Community sanitation
- Extreme weather events and emergency preparedness
- Radon, asbestos and other hazardous materials and chemicals
- Tobacco control
- Tanning bed use
Contact
If you wish to report a health hazard, register a smoke-free places complaint, tanning facility complaint or require information on an environmental public health topic, call 1-877-936-8476 or fill out our online form.
Who are we?
The Environmental Health Division is comprised of individuals with science and environmental health degrees specializing in public health. Our environmental health consultants have certification as public health inspectors from the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors. Inspectors also work with our team to enforce public health legislation.