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Background and purpose: Children are perpetually surrounded by home, school and the local community. Such places should have high health and safety standards. Previous studies have shown that most accidents and diseases among children in developing countries occur in these places. This study aimed at assessing the environmental health and safety status of primary schools in Pakdasht County, Iran, 2010-2011. Materials and methods: In a descriptive study 82 schools (34 urban and 48 rural) were selected using census method. A questionnaire was used during interview with school principals and the researcher also had direct observation. The data was analyzed using Excel and SPSS. Results: The results of this research revealed that most school areas were smaller for their number of students. Only 53.2% followed the standards regarding the school area and the number of students. Among the studied schools 55.23% contained enough number of lavatories required for their student population. There was no significant difference between urban and rural schools regarding classroom environment, number of lavatories and the distance between the blackboard and the first row of students. But significant differences were found regarding the standards of lavatories (P= 0.003), school areas (P= 0.001), and water fountains (P= 0.017) in urban and rural schools. Conclusion: Most studied schools had medium levels of standards according to Health Instruction Guide for Schools' Environment. Therefore, more attention from authorities is necessary to improve the health status in schools.

Keywords: Environmental health, school health, safety, Pakdasht County

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