OPENING DAY Members providing psychiatric emergency services at the Archie Courtnall Centre in Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital are looking forward to working in their newly updated department. The unit re-opened June 28. From left: Personal security officer Niraj Manjhu, BCNU South Islands region OH&S rep Patricia Crown, Nicole West, Rick Howard and Royal Jubilee Hospital full-time steward Richard Fields.
“It was really the moment that I thought, we need to stand up and do something here.” Daphne Wass
through came last year after Island Heath conducted a violence prevention survey in April after numerous and ongoing complaints from staff. Following the survey the employer commissioned an independent risk assessment that was completed by consultant Alison Hutchison in November 2016. Her report analyzed the ongoing issues at the facility in detail and provided a long list of recommendations that included providing a 24-7 protection security officer (PSO) seven days a week and rebuilding the nursing station with input from staff and JOHS Committee members. A large number of staff met with management last December to dis-
cuss the report’s findings. But despite the cautious optimism following the recommendations, many reported walking away from the meeting feeling ignored by managers and uncertain if the needed changes would ever become a reality. Wass – who is the BCNU South Islands region (PRP) advocate – included these concerns in a detailed PRF that was submitted in January 2017 that, once again, highlighted the dangerous working conditions in the PES department. Patricia Crown is BCNU’s South Islands region OH&S representative. She reports that persistent efforts on the part of staff in the wake of the
Hutchison report were the key to eventual success. “We wanted to put pressure on management to go ahead with the risk assessment recommendations instead of leaving it on the shelf,” she says. “So we had a meeting with the staff and encouraged them to file a PRF, we filed an Article 32 (OH&S) grievance and I brought [the issue] to the JOSH Committee and the Regional Violence Prevention Committee.” A 21-day letter is an important step in the JOHS Committee process. Staff and management reps on the committee must reach consensus before a formal recommendation to the employer is made, and it’s not always easy to reach an agreement on the correct course of action. But once submitted, the employer must respond within 21 days in writing to any written recommendations from the committee. “We still weren’t getting anywhere so that’s when we filed a 21-day letter saying we needed to go ahead on the recommendations and lo and behold, we got their attention,” says Crown.
CHANGES UNDERWAY
With a price tag of over $2 million, the renovated PES department will have a safer and more secure nursing station, and an additional seclusion room with a skylight. There will also be a new multipurpose room and a new exam room for patient interviews. continued on page 19
UPDATE MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2017
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