Our school and social care team works to improve the health and safety of child care facilities, adult long term and assisted living facilities, acute care (hospitals), and other related residential facilities.

Our EPH Professionals have extensive experience in illness and outbreak investigation and management. We have produced procedures, protocols, and awareness/promotional material for local, provincial, national and international distribution.

• EPH Professionals assist in investigating the source of infection for confirmed and unconfirmed cases of communicable diseases associated with food, and water.
• Appropriate measures are taken to prevent further cases which may include testing of food, stool, or water samples, exclusion of ill cases from high risk jobs, inspection of facilities, closure of facilities, and outbreak declaration in conjunction with the local health authority.

If contracted, the EPH Professional will be on-call 24/7 in order to help the facility manage any outbreaks identified by the local health authority, as well as collaborate with the local health authority for the necessary investigations and follow ups until the conclusion of the outbreak.

Recreational facilities are legislated to ensure reduction in the spread of water illness and prevent related injuries. Our consultants can assist with regular assessments, audits, education upgrading and monitoring. Having all these programs in place will provide the basis for the good recreational water protocol.

Our playground audits are based on the CAN/CSA Z614 “Children’s Playspaces and Equipment.”

Suitable housing conditions are essential for good health. People can become more susceptible to disease when they do not have safe and sanitary housing.

Our EPH Consultants can assist landlords/owners in compliance with the local health authority requirements by inspecting rental houses, apartments, hotels, and other types of accommodations to determine whether these places are safe.

These include barbering and hairstyling, aesthetics, ear piercing, body piercing, and tattooing. Proper techniques and well-maintained equipment are needed to ensure public safety. Bacterial and fungal infections can spread from one person to another person if equipment is not properly cleaned or sterilized between uses. “Personal services” may be exposed to infectious agents, serious allergens and other harmful matter like ultra violet radiation.

Our EPH consultants can assist operators of such facilities in complying with several pieces of legislation.

Raw water supplies can be contaminated with microorganisms or chemical contaminants. Harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 have caused severe illnesses and deaths. Chemical contaminants such as lead can cause brain damage and accumulate in body tissues.

Our EPH Professionals assist owners/operators in reducing the occurrence of illness related to the use of domestic water supplies. This is accomplished by monitoring the physical, chemical and bacteriological quality of drinking water supplies to ensure that they meet established health and safety guidelines.

Our experts can help examine new business plans before they are submitted to the local health authority to ensure that the plans meet all applicable regulation requirements for approval. Specifically, plans for health approval must be submitted if you are planning to build or remodel any of the following:

• Food facilities
• Swimming pool / whirlpool
• Child and Adult care facilities
• Personal service facilities (hair salon, aesthetic services, tattoo, body piercing, etc).

Catastrophic events such as floods or industrial accidents can cause immediate and severe harm, as well as long-term health effects. The actions taken following an emergency can greatly reduce the impact of the event. Our EPH Professionals provide health-related information to first responders, hospitals, physicians, and the public during disasters and emergencies such as:

• Advising on the proper set up of emergency centres with respect to food, shelter, and other basic necessities for survivors and evacuees
• Advising on staff protection
• Advising on requirements for and the process of decontamination
• Advising on immediate and long-term health effects

Advising on exposures or potential exposures to hazardous materials, industrial fires, inhaled toxins, and contaminated food/water