About Us
Welcome to Safety Services Nova Scotia
Mission
Delivering world class safety and health services for Nova Scotians.
Vision
A Safe and Healthy Nova Scotia.
Values
- Safety and Health: They are our highest priorities and we live them.
- Leadership: As champions of safety and health, we are committed to leading positive change.
- Responsiveness: We proactively meet our members, clients and the community by providing quality safety and health services.
- Partnerships: We value partnerships and believe that together we can achieve more.
History
Safety Services Nova Scotia (SSNS) was founded in 1958, under the name “The Nova Scotia Highway Safety Council”, as a private, non-profit, non-government organization. Its founding members were some of the most prominent businesses and citizens of that time.
SSNS began lobbying for driver education in high schools and posted speed limits on all roads. Both initiatives were successful; they liaised with the Canada Safety Council, distributing that organization’s Elmer The Safety Elephant material to schools. Today’s adults still remember “Elmer” visiting their school.
In the 1970s, records show that SSNS was recommending all terrain vehicle legislation be implemented. As well, it was during that decade that SSNS changed its name to simply “the Nova Scotia Safety Council”. By that time the it was promoting not only traffic safety issues, but occupational and public (off the job) safety as well. SSNS began offering occupational safety training courses.
In 1980, SSNS introduced the Buckle Up Baby child car seat rental program to Nova Scotia. The Women’s Institute agreed to assume this program and ran it successfully for many years. SSNS began lobbying for seat belt legislation. Seat belt and child car seat legislation came into effect in 1985.
Impaired driving was a concern and SSNS lobbied for stiffer legislation and roadside “testers”.
In 1982, SSNS began one of its best known initiatives: the annual health and safety conference. Attending this event is now a tradition in Nova Scotia. Each year the conference attracts more than 500 delegates and 60 exhibitors.
Also in the 1980s, SSNS's annual School Bus Safety Awareness campaign began. For many years, Nova Scotia was the only province with a campaign devoted solely to school bus safety.
By the early 1990s, SSNS had acquired an excellent reputation for its occupational safety training. They expanded its office facilities to include classrooms at its office on Agricola Street in Halifax. This is where Halifax occupational safety courses for the general public are offered. The number of training courses available to the general public and onsite at businesses across the province, continues to grow today.
Also in the early 90's, SSNS pioneered child car seat clinics in Nova Scotia. This, along with child car seat consulting, continued until 2003, when other agencies and coalitions were able to take on these programs.
Early in this decade, SSNS began offering online training, such as WHMIS and the Student Workplace Orientation Program. University credit courses in occupational safety through a partnership with Ryerson University, began. The Council itself offered a health and safety professional certificate.
It was at this time that SSNS also started helping industries, such as forestry, develop safety programs tailored specifically for their industry.
In 2003, after more than 40 years of traffic safety initiatives, opened a driving school in Halifax.
Safety Services Nova Scotia has an outstanding record of pioneering safety education and training programs that have improved the quality of life of Nova Scotians. They will honour its past achievements by continuing to be the type of organization that recognizes a need and strives to meet it.
