Excerpt from the OH&S Canada magazine
Saskatchewan Association for Safe Workplaces and Health (SASWH) wants the campaign on August 24, 2018 to increase awareness of violence in the healthcare sector.
The Campaign for Change, is a collaborative effort with frontline healthcare workers, senior leaders and system partners. The campaign showcases a video documenting personal experiences with violence and healthcare providers in the province have encountered.
“The unfortunate reality is that occurrences of violence and aggression are experienced by many frontline healthcare workers,” Sandra Cripps, Chief Executive Officer of SASWH in Regina, says in a statement. “The participants in this video have represented the issue very well, signalling a call to action dealing with any and all occurrences of violence or aggression.”
“We’re not going to eliminate violence or occurrences of aggression in health care, but we can at least put in the hands of frontline workers the tools and resources to reduce the risk.”
“Severe violent instances usually get reported, but the smaller daily instances often aren’t,” said Cripps, and that’s what this campaign aims to change. The information from these smaller events is needed to identify problem areas in the health care system and introduce controls to reduce the risk to staff.
“It’s still violence. It’s still not part of the job, and we can’t normalize it to be part of the job,” she said.
Saskatchewan’s healthcare sector continues to experience the highest number of claims reported than all other industries, according to his statistics from Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board. The under reporting of violent incidents in the healthcare industry is attributed to the perception that workplace aggression is part of the job. Currently, some healthcare facilities are struggling with a lack of role. Controls to address the risk of violence.
The campaign seeks to increase the reporting of violence to build a stronger safety culture and promote the adoption of affective violence-prevention initiatives. Increased reporting will also enable more targeted and timely interventions, the statement notes.
My opinion
I do mention that Saskatchewan does take a proactive approach, when they can, to deal with occupational issues.
The healthcare sector has historically been the centre of many acts of violence and any province can tell you the same thing. Recognizing the concern is always the first step and doing something about it is a legal requirement in most provinces and territories.
Workplace violence in our health care sector is a growing matter that we are committed to addressing. We’ve seen a concerning increase in the frequency and severity of incidents of workplace violence in our hospitals, mainly experienced by nurses.
Nurses play an integral role in providing care to patients in our hospitals and, because of their level of interaction with patients, they are the primary victims of workplace violence. That is unacceptable. Every worker in Ontario should expect a safe and healthy workplace.
Violence against our health care workers affects us all. It impacts our families and our communities.
Clearly, we need to take concrete steps to change attitudes, provide support for prevention, and make health care workplaces safer and more responsive to incidents of violence.
Ensure your workplace is a safe place.
Remember – In Canada, “ALL Accidents are Preventable”
HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs including ‘Due Diligence”Violence and Harassment’ and ‘Standard Operating Procedures’. Contact Deborah toll free at 1-877-907-7744 or locally at 705-749-1259.
‘Work’ and ‘Play’ safe.
Daniel L. Beal
CHSEP – Advanced Level
VP & Senior Trainer
HRS Group Inc.