Asbestos Awareness Training in Nova Scotia: Online Course
Asbestos Awareness Training, $24.99 CAD
A 30 to 40 minute online course that covers the asbestos awareness concepts that Nova Scotia OHS Act and Workplace Health and Safety Regulations, Part 2 (section 2.3) expects Nova Scotia workers to understand: where asbestos hides in buildings built before 1990, friable versus non-friable material, how exposure causes disease, what to do when you find suspect material, and why abatement is left to trained crews.
- Instant access after checkout, self-paced, works on any device
- Developed by CRSP-certified safety professionals
- Printable certificate of completion with verification code
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Awareness level: pairs with your employer's site-specific procedure
What this course is (and is not)
It is awareness-level training: the shared knowledge every trades worker, maintenance worker, supervisor and property manager needs to recognize suspect asbestos-containing material and stop before disturbing it. It covers the concepts in Nova Scotia OHS Act and Workplace Health and Safety Regulations, Part 2 (section 2.3) in plain language, with quizzes and a final assessment.
It is not an abatement worker certificate, an asbestos removal licence, or a substitute for the risk assessment and work procedures that removal work requires. Nova Scotia regulates abatement separately, and this course does not qualify anyone to remove, repair or disturb asbestos-containing material. We do not claim the course meets or satisfies the regulation on its own; your employer pairs it with an asbestos inventory, site procedures and supervision.
Buying for a crew? Corporate accounts let you assign seats and track completions. Need help building an asbestos inventory or management plan? Talk to a consultant.
What Nova Scotia Requires for Asbestos
Occupational Health and Safety Act (S.N.S. 1996, c. 7), section 13, Workplace Health and Safety Regulations (N.S. Reg. 52/2013), Part 2, Occupational Health, section 2.3, and the Department codes of practice for asbestos, in plain language.
Nova Scotia is different from the western provinces: it has no stand-alone asbestos regulation. The duties come from the general provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, from Part 2 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulations (N.S. Reg. 52/2013), and from two codes of practice published by the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration. Disposal is regulated separately under the Environment Act.
General duties (Occupational Health and Safety Act, section 13). Section 13 of the Act requires every employer to take every precaution that is reasonable in the circumstances to protect the health and safety of persons at or near the workplace, to provide the information, instruction, training, supervision and facilities needed, and to ensure employees are made aware of hazards. Asbestos in a building built before 1990 is a foreseeable hazard those duties reach, and the Safety Branch inspects and enforces on that basis.
Exposure limit (Workplace Health and Safety Regulations, section 2.3). An employer must comply with, and ensure compliance with, the threshold limit values in the latest ACGIH TLVs and BEIs publication for gases, vapours, mists, fumes, smoke, dust and chemical substances. That publication sets the exposure limit for asbestos fibres, and Part 2 prevails over any conflicting provision. Respiratory protection and other personal protective equipment fall under Part 3 of the Occupational Safety General Regulations.
Codes of practice. The Department publishes Managing Asbestos in the Workplace and Removal of Friable Asbestos Containing Material. They set out the expected practice for surveys and inventories, classifying work by risk, enclosures and negative air, wetting, respiratory protection, decontamination and clearance. Inspectors use them as the benchmark for what a reasonable precaution looks like under the Act. This awareness course explains the concepts; abatement crews need the procedure-level training those codes describe.
Waste (Asbestos Waste Management Regulations). Made under the Environment Act, these regulations control how asbestos waste is packaged, transported and disposed of at approved sites.
Inspections and enforcement are handled by the Safety Branch of the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration; workplace injury insurance is administered by WCB Nova Scotia.
This summary is for awareness only and is not legal advice. Always read the current consolidated text on the official site linked above.
Who Needs Asbestos Awareness Training in Nova Scotia
Anyone who renovates, demolishes, maintains, inspects or cleans buildings built before 1990, and the supervisors and property managers who send them in.
- Renovation, restoration and demolition contractors
- Property management, building maintenance and custodial staff
- Plumbers, electricians, HVAC and drywall trades
- Roofing, siding and flooring installers
- Municipal, regional centre for education and health facility maintenance
- Shipyard, refinery and plant maintenance crews
- Insurance restoration and disaster recovery
- Home inspectors, realtors and appraisers
Also relevant for joint health and safety committee members, new and young workers, and contractors bidding on Nova Scotia renovation, facility maintenance or demolition work who need documented awareness training before mobilizing.
Asbestos Awareness Training Nova Scotia FAQs
Is asbestos awareness training mandatory in Nova Scotia?
Nova Scotia has no stand-alone asbestos regulation. The Occupational Health and Safety Act requires employers to take every reasonable precaution and to provide the information, instruction and training employees need, and section 2.3 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulations requires compliance with the ACGIH exposure limit for asbestos. The Department's codes of practice describe the expected practice. Employers meet those expectations by pairing awareness training with a survey and site procedures. This course supplies the awareness half.
Does this course let me remove asbestos in Nova Scotia?
No. The Department's code of practice Removal of Friable Asbestos Containing Material describes procedure-level training, enclosures, respiratory protection and clearance that abatement crews must follow to meet the Act's reasonable-precaution duty. This is an awareness-level course; it does not qualify anyone to remove, repair or disturb asbestos-containing material. On passing the final quiz you receive a printable certificate of completion with a verification code.
Where are Nova Scotia's asbestos rules if there is no asbestos regulation?
In three places. The Occupational Health and Safety Act sets the general duties to identify hazards, take reasonable precautions and train employees. Section 2.3 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulations adopts the ACGIH threshold limit values, which include asbestos. The Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration publishes the codes of practice Managing Asbestos in the Workplace and Removal of Friable Asbestos Containing Material, which inspectors use as the benchmark. Disposal falls under the Asbestos Waste Management Regulations of the Environment Act.
Does a Nova Scotia building need an asbestos survey before renovation?
The Act's duty to identify hazards and take reasonable precautions, read with the code of practice Managing Asbestos in the Workplace, means an employer or owner should know whether asbestos-containing material is present before work that could disturb it, and should manage it through an inventory and plan. The course teaches workers to recognize suspect material in pre-1990 buildings and stop until it has been assessed.
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$24.99 CAD. Instant access, printable certificate, 30-day money-back guarantee.