Health Inspectors Hold Workshop

Public health inspectors employed with the government of Nova Scotia recently participated in a workshop to talk about inspecting child-care facilities.

"This workshop is a direct result of this government's commitments to strengthening health protection at child-care facilities," said Ernest Fage, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. "The department's food-safety specialists are eager to provide high-quality inspections that will go further in protecting our children's health."

This spring, the responsibility for child-care inspections began to involve the food-safety inspectors from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Participants in the workshop were from the provincial departments of Agriculture and Fisheries, Community Services and Health.

The full-day workshop covered topics on communicable disease control, staff and child hygiene, sanitation and safety requirements in facilities. Child-care facilities are inspected by public health inspectors to ensure that they have good water supplies, proper food-handling practices and programs for preventing and controlling communicable diseases.

Dr. Robert Strang, medical officer of health for Capital Health, stressed the importance of inspecting child-care facilities and of their to respond quickly and appropriately to illnesses. The health inspectors who attended this workshop are employed as food-safety specialists for the province. They also provide inspection services to more than 5,000 grocery stores and restaurants in Nova Scotia.

In Nova Scotia, about 210 full-day and 166 part-day child-care facilities provide programs for infants, toddlers, preschool and school-age children. The Department of Community Services licenses these facilities to operate. A licence can be granted when the facility meets the requirements of Nova Scotia's Day Care Act and regulations and if it receives a positive recommendation from a public health inspector.