 Government Services April 26, 2007
BACKGROUNDER
The Department of Government Services provides
important public health and safety services through a variety of program
areas in a "single window" service delivery model. Through a recent
rigorous examination of its role and mandate since its initial inception
in 1996, the department has identified a number of enhancements to its
public health and safety programs and other services. For instance, environmental health officers are
responsible for the inspection of food premises, daycares, personal care
homes and public swimming pools. They also carry out meat inspections,
drinking water and raw milk sampling, septic systems approvals and
tobacco control. The addition of a number of environmental health
technician positions to carry out some of the more routine functions,
for example water sampling, will allow environmental health officers to
focus on priority areas such as food safety. Staff under the public safety program ensure pressure
systems, boilers, elevating devices and elevators are properly installed
and used. The electrical program involves inspections of domestic,
commercial and industrial electrical installations to ensure the
province adheres to the Canadian Electrical Code and applicable safety
standards. This program will also be provided with some additional
positions. Environmental protection officers are responsible for
environmental spill response, petroleum storage tank registrations,
service station inspections, approval and inspection of waste disposal
sites and on-farm manure management systems. Additional enforcement
resources will be added to strengthen the capacity to protect the
environment. The bursary program for students in environmental
health program will enable the recruitment of certified environmental
health officers to fill vacant positions, particularly in sometimes
hard-to-fill rural areas, in return for an education supplement. - 30 - Media contact: |
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