August 17, 2017
BROCKVILLE – Following the levy of a $75,000 fine against
the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre for failing to reassess the risk of
violence after a registered nurse was repeatedly stabbed and critically injured
at its Brockville site, the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) says the province
needs to invest in taking proactive measures to keep nurses safe.
“Let’s stop wasting taxpayers’ money in legal fees and fines
where employers such as this one fail in their duties,” said ONA Region 2
Vice-President Cathryn Hoy, RN, “and instead make them invest in the measures
proven to make a difference. ONA was deeply disappointed when Justice Richard
Knott dismissed three of the four charges against this employer, and while the
$75,000 fine is substantial, it will not change this employer’s behaviour.”
ONA believes the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
should invest in safe staffing levels, training health-care managers about
their day-to-day safety obligations, invest in authentic occupational health
and safety cultures and systems, instead of sending the message that
health-care employers will not really be held accountable under the
Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to keep their workers safe.
“Judge Knott gets some credit for upping the ante of
non-compliance with this substantial fine,” says Hoy. “However, this case made
it clear that the court does not understand the very limited right to refuse
unsafe work of registered nurses.
The written court decision in this case “appears to suggest
that nurses, not the employer, are responsible for their own safety,” she says.
“Despite specifying that the risk of violence in the unit where our RN was
stabled multiple times ‘is as high or higher than almost anywhere imaginable
for nurses,’ the judge cited ‘employee responsibilities to use reasonable
precautions…and be vigilant for the potential for violence.’ The decision
points out that ‘no one refused to work with the patient’’ as important
information for dismissing four out of five charges. Clearly, the court system
is unaware of the extensive regulatory requirements of RNs that limit their
ability to refuse to care for their patients, nor the commitment we have as
regulated professionals in caring for our patients.”
According to Workplace Safety and Insurance Board statistics,
Ontario health-care workers are 68 times more likely to be physically injured
from violent attacks than miners and construction workers.
“The late-Justice Archie Campbell noted that health-care
workplaces are as dangerous as mines and factories,” said Hoy. “In his
post-SARS report, he emphasized that health-care employer systems for
protecting workers fall short of industrial health and safety systems. Nurses
should have the same expectation of legal protection from workplace harm and
not have to fear for their lives while providing the quality care our patients
need and deserve.”
ONA is the union representing 64,000 registered nurses and health-care
professionals, as well as almost 16,000 nursing student affiliates, providing
care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community,
clinics and industry.
https://www.ona.org/news-posts/romhc-violence/
