Ontario. Division of Industrial Hygiene

Identity area

Type of entity

Lower-level Ontario government office (type C)

Authorized form of name

Ontario. Division of Industrial Hygiene

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

    • Division of Industrial Hygiene

    Other form(s) of name

    • Ontario. Industrial Hygiene Branch

    Identifiers for corporate bodies

    Description area

    Dates of existence

    1920-1966

    History

    The Industrial Hygiene Division was created in 1920 within the Ontario Provincial Board of Health. In its first year it concentrated mainly on the collection of information; the following year it moved into more investigation and issuing of recommendations. The Division continued to exist after the Department of Health was established in 1924 and often cooperated with the Department of Labour. From 1936-1938 and then 1959 until its dissolution, the Division was known as the Industrial Hygiene Branch.

    In 1962 the Division (at this time referred to as a Branch) was reorganized into several separate units which by 1964 had settled into the following eight sections: Branch Administration, General Industrial Hygiene, Industrial Hygiene Laboratory, Radiation Protection Laboratory and Field Services, Occupational Chest Diseases, Air Pollution Control, Stuffed Articles and Pesticides Control, and the Civil Service Employee Health Service.

    In April 1963, the Provincial Sanitary Inspectors were transferred from the jurisdiction of the Industrial Hygiene Branch to the Public Health Administration Branch to become an integral part of the Northern Ontario Public Health Services (NOPHS).

    When the Department of Health underwent a major reorganization in 1966, the Industrial Hygiene Branch was amalgamated with the Environmental Sanitation Branch to form the new Environmental Health Services Branch.

    Places

    Legal status

    Functions, occupations and activities

    The Industrial Hygiene Division was responsible for the assessment of health hazards associated with industrial physical and chemical agents, atmospheric pollution, pesticides, and herbicides. It provided consultative and laboratory services to other Ontario government departments, agencies and industries. The Division enforced and administered the Silicosis Act (1950), the Air Pollution Control Act, the Pesticides Act, and the Stuffed Articles Regulations (under the Public Health Act). It also supervised the Civil Service Employee Health Service.

    In 1935 the Division was given responsibility for the Department's interest in cancer control and its activities included purchasing (and later manufacturing) radon seeds for cancer treatment and maintaining statistics on cancer rates.

    Address

    Internal structures/genealogy

    General context

    Relationships area

    Related entity

    Provincial Board of Health of Ontario (1882-1924)

    Identifier of related entity

    BA27

    Category of relationship

    hierarchical

    Type of relationship

    Provincial Board of Health of Ontario controls Ontario. Division of Industrial Hygiene

    Dates of relationship

    1920-1924

    Description of relationship

    Related entity

    Ontario. Dept. of Health (1924-1972)

    Identifier of related entity

    AA37

    Category of relationship

    hierarchical

    Type of relationship

    Ontario. Dept. of Health controls Ontario. Division of Industrial Hygiene

    Dates of relationship

    1924-1966

    Description of relationship

    Related entity

    Ontario. Environmental Health Services Branch (1966-1972)

    Identifier of related entity

    CA1505

    Category of relationship

    temporal

    Type of relationship

    Ontario. Environmental Health Services Branch is the successor of Ontario. Division of Industrial Hygiene

    Dates of relationship

    Description of relationship

    Related entity

    Ontario. Health Programs Division (1978-1982)

    Identifier of related entity

    CA1501

    Category of relationship

    temporal

    Type of relationship

    Ontario. Health Programs Division is the successor of Ontario. Division of Industrial Hygiene

    Dates of relationship

    Description of relationship

    Related entity

    Ontario. Occupational Health Service (1966-1972)

    Identifier of related entity

    CA1506

    Category of relationship

    temporal

    Type of relationship

    Ontario. Occupational Health Service is the successor of Ontario. Division of Industrial Hygiene

    Dates of relationship

    Description of relationship

    Access points area

    Subject access points

    Place access points

    Epithet

    Control area

    Authority record identifier

    CA1502

    Institution identifier

    Rules and/or conventions used

    RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

    Status

    Approved

    Level of detail

    Dates of creation, revision and deletion

    2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

    Language(s)

      Script(s)

        Sources

        Annual reports of the Department of Health, 1920-1966

        Inventory RG 10

        Canadiana

        Maintenance notes

        Archivist(s):
        Marg McIntyre, Judith Pudden