Workplace violence is on the rise in the city’s Homes for the Aged, according to a recently released report.
City council has received the report detailing some of the violent incidents that were reported against city employees. Two sectors saw a significant rise in the number of violent incidents against employees -- nursing homes and transit drivers.
The report showed 30 incidents of workplace violence against Homes for the Aged employees in 2012.
City's manager of Corporate Safety Leif Anderson said many of these incidents involve people who have mental problems and don’t intend to be violent.
“Workers are being hit by residents in the homes and in different areas like that,” he said. “In office spaces we’re not seeing people being physically assaulted as much. We’re seeing more of threats being made.”
Anderson said steps are already being taken to try to better train drivers and nursing home staff to deal with these kinds of situations.
Canadian Auto Workers union Local 229 President Kari Jefford agreed that employees are facing more incidents of violence.
She called it a major issue for her workers.
“We’ve seen a significant increase over the last few years,” she said. “It has a lot to do with staffing and behaviors that can’t be managed. It seems like the incidents are getting more serious. It is up the employer to ensure we have a safe area to work in.”
She said city employees aren’t the exclusive targets of violence, and that the report shows that homes for the aged residents can also become victims.
Jefford explained that a lack of resources is one of the main reasons the city is seeing this increase in violence.
Coun. Rebecca Johnson said the province has mandated that city implement committees to look into the problem.
“We have to seriously look at how we can deal with that,” she said. “How can we deal with this increasing workforce violence? It’s a very serious matter.”
Johnson believes the first step should be more training for management in order to deal with those difficult situations.
