LOCAL RULES

Nova Scotia site safety inspection report requirements

Your Nova Scotia site safety inspection report has one rule to meet. ReportDraft puts it on your checklist and checks your draft before you sign.

  • A written fall-protection safe-work procedure for the work
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In Nova Scotia, the Workplace Health and Safety Regulations set when fall protection is needed and what written procedures, plans and training go with it, and the Occupational Safety General Regulations cover trenches and buried utility lines. Here is each rule with a link to the Registrar of Regulations' consolidation, and what a Nova Scotia site inspection should check.

Last reviewed October 12, 2026 against the official sources listed below.

Site safety inspectionNOVA SCOTIA / SAMPLE

Sample notes, 241 words

Project: Riverside Commons Building B
412 Mill Street
GC: Hartwell Builders
Date: 10/08/2026, 7:15am
Inspected by: Marco Diaz, site superintendent (competent person)
...
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We sorted 25 items into 11 sections and flagged 1 to fix first.

  • Fix firstFall protection and openings

    3rd floor east slab edge: guardrail missing a 12 ft section, framers working nearby.

  • Fix soonScaffolds and aerial lifts

    Scaffold north elevation: tag not signed today, one plank missing at top lift.

  • Fix soonLadders

    Stepladder with cracked side rail in the plumbing gang box, tagged Do Not Use

1 Nova Scotia rule on your checklist, including a written fall-protection safe-work procedure for the work.

Still to add

  • RecommendedNotes for site access, housekeeping and storage
  • RecommendedNotes for corrective actions

Filled in for you

Project nameRiverside Commons Building B
Site address412 Mill Street
General contractor or employerHartwell Builders
Inspection dateOct 8, 2026
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What Nova Scotia requires

  • Fall protection is required where a person is at risk of falling 3 m or more to the nearest safe surface or water, or less than 3 m onto a surface or thing that could cause a worse injury than a solid flat surface or into exposed hazardous material such as an open tank, pit or vat; the employer uses a guardrail, temporary flooring, a personnel safety net, a travel restraint system or a fall-arrest systemWorkplace Health and Safety Regulations, N.S. Reg. 52/2013, s. 21.2 (1), (2)
  • Where fall protection is required and the maximum fall distance is less than 7.5 m, the employer has a written fall-protection safe-work procedure for the type of work, based on a hazard assessment, unless everyone is protected by a permanent guardrail or works from a qualifying work-platform with adequate fall protectionWorkplace Health and Safety Regulations, s. 21.3
  • Where fall protection is required and the fall distance is 7.5 m or more, the employer has a specific written fall-protection safe-work plan for that work area, based on a hazard assessment, covering the work and its duration, the fall hazards, the fall-protection systems and anchorages, confirmed clearance below for fall arrest, swing, and how the systems are assembled, maintained, inspected, used and taken downWorkplace Health and Safety Regulations, s. 21.4
  • Before a person uses fall protection, or works in, supervises or plans work in an area where it is required, and at least every 3 years, the employer makes sure the person completes fall-protection training; the employer keeps a training record with the participant's name, training dates, instructor, employer, training organization, a description and the expiry date, and gives the person a copyWorkplace Health and Safety Regulations, ss. 21.19 (1), 21.21
  • Where a person may enter an excavation or trench with a wall more than 1.2 m high, the wall is supported by adequate shoring or bracing or an adequate trench cage is used, unless the employer can show it is cut in sound and stable rock, is sloped no steeper than 1 m vertical to 1 m horizontal to within 1.2 m of the bottom, or no one goes closer to the walls than their heightOccupational Safety General Regulations, N.S. Reg. 44/1999, s. 166 (1)
  • Where an underground utility line's location is likely to endanger a person, the employer contacts the utility before beginning an excavation or trench so the utility clearly locates and marks the lineOccupational Safety General Regulations, s. 153 (2)

Fall protection from 3 m

Fall protection is required where someone could fall 3 m or more to the nearest safe surface or water, or a shorter distance onto something worse than a flat surface or into exposed hazardous material. It can be a guardrail, temporary flooring, a safety net, travel restraint or fall arrest.

Below 7.5 m, the employer has a written fall-protection safe-work procedure for the type of work. From 7.5 m, a specific written plan for that work area covers the hazards, systems, anchorages, clearance below, swing and how the equipment is set up and inspected. Neither is needed where everyone is behind a permanent guardrail.

Training and records

Anyone who uses fall protection, or works in, supervises or plans work where it is required, completes fall-protection training first and again at least every 3 years. The employer keeps a record with the person's name, the dates, the instructor, the training provider, a description and the expiry date, and gives the person a copy.

Trenches and buried lines

Where someone may enter a trench or excavation with walls over 1.2 m high, the walls are shored, braced or protected by a trench cage, unless they are sound rock, sloped at 1 to 1 to within 1.2 m of the bottom, or no one goes closer to the wall than its height. Before digging where buried utility lines could endanger anyone, the utility is called to locate and mark them.

Common mistakes

  • No written fall-protection safe-work procedure for roof or edge work below 7.5 m.
  • Working above 7.5 m with only the general procedure instead of a specific plan.
  • Fall-protection training that expired more than 3 years ago.
  • A worker in a trench over 1.2 m with vertical, unshored walls.
  • Digging before the utility has marked its lines.

Sources

Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Next review due January 12, 2027. This page explains published rules to help you write your report. It is not legal advice; the official text linked above governs.