April 26, 2017

Greetings,

In April 2016, government introduced and passed Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act to help keep Nova Scotians safe at work. Most employers in Nova Scotia operate safe workplaces. However, there are some who repeatedly break serious health and safety rules, putting Nova Scotians at risk of serious injury or death. The amendments hold those employers more accountable, and were passed by the legislature with a commitment by the Department to work with stakeholders on next steps. That work is complete, and we’re ready to put the changes into place. We are writing today to remind you that the amendments come into force today, June 12, 2017.

Click here to find a Safety Bulletin summarizing the changes to the act.  We have also copied the links below for more information including the link to the updated Act. 

For anyone interested in a copy of the updated Act it can be found at the link below: 

http://nslegislature.ca/legc/statutes/occupational%20health%20and%20safety.pdf

For anyone interested in reviewing the details of the revised Act, please visit the link to Bill 165 (below):

http://nslegislature.ca/legc/bills/62nd_2nd/3rd_read/b165.htm

We ask that you please share this information with your workplace networks. We must continue to work together to keep Nova Scotians safe.   

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 1-800-952-2687 or 902-424-5400, or via email at ohsdivision@novascotia.ca.

Regards,

Safety Branch - Department of Labour and Advanced Education