POLL: VIOLENCE AGAINST ONTARIO HOSPITAL WORKERS SURGES DURING COVID-19
Jul 05, 2022
By Bob Komsic
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The problem of Ontario hospital workers; including registered practical nurses and personal support workers being attacked, assaulted and abused; be it physically, sexually, verbally or racially, has surged dramatically during the pandemic.
That’s the finding of a new poll of more than 2,300 workers for CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions.
”Of all occupational groups, healthcare workers, bear the greatest risk of workplace violence,” according to secretary-treasurer Sharon Richer.
”In the last ten years, violence against nurses has increased at a rate three times higher than violence against Canadian police officers and or correctional officers combined.”
Richer adds hospital management ”need to be held accountable for the toxic work environment where women are being beaten, sexually assaulted and racially attacked by hundreds, every single day.”
About nine-in-ten (85%) of hospital workers in Ontario are women.