“THERE WERE SHOCK- INGLY FEW INSTANCES OF WORK REFUSALS, MIN- ISTRY OF LABOUR COM- PLAINTS OR RECOMMEN- DATIONS MADE TO JHSCS DURING THE 2020/21 SCHOOL YEAR, IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT IN NOVEMBER/DECEMBER, 18 PERCENT OF EDUCA- TORS SAID THAT LESS THAN HALF OF THEIR PPE NEEDS AND LESS THAN 67 PERCENT OF THEIR INFECTION CONTROL PRACTICE NEEDS WERE BEING MET.”
control practices and PPE. The study didn’t assess the effectiveness of PPE and infec- tion control practices in school, but it did ask educators if their needs were being met in those areas. A sense that their needs for health and safety measures were not being met, made them feel less safe. The moder- ate/severe symptoms of anxiety were much higher (26 percent and 38 percent higher) in educators who said that less than half of their PPE or infection control needs were be- ing met. Peter Smith, one of the researchers, said,
“Obviously, the purpose of providing PPE and infection control practices is about pro- tecting workers from COVID-19 but not adequately doing so is also associated with higher level of anxiety.” Workers in Ontario have more rights
than they realize when it comes to health and safety. It’s important to know that:
• Workers, through their representatives on the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC), have a right to be a part of discus- sions about health and safety issues and concerns in the workplace.
• When there is disagreement between the employer and workers on the JHSC, the worker representatives can make recommendations, to which the employer must respond.
• Safety concerns should be reported first to the supervisor, but can also be reported by anyone to the Ministry of Labour, who will investigate.
• Any worker has the right to refuse unsafe work, when they have reason to believe that their work is likely to endanger their health and safety.
There were shockingly few instances of
work refusals, Ministry of Labour com- plaints or recommendations made to JH- SCs during the 2020/21 school year, in spite of the fact that in November/December, 18 percent of educators said that less than half of their PPE needs and less than 67 percent of their infection control practice needs were being met. In instances where the Ministry of Labour became involved, there was some frustration at the lack of enforcement, but there were also members who stood up for their rights and saw both immediate and longer-term improvements to safety precautions. The Occupational Health and Safety Act
puts the power to point out health and safety concerns in the hands of workers, but it isn’t effective if the workers don’t use their rights.
26 ETFO VOICE | FALL 2021
WORKPLACE SAFETY INCLUDES PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
Since the first “pivot” to remote learning, outbreaks and shut downs have meant a near constant state of anxiety. The workload of remote learning and the concerns for safety in schools compounded the mental distress. Many educators accessed their sick leave be- cause their doctors indicated that their stress had reached a tipping point. Occasional ed- ucators were facing their own stressors, in- cluding exposure to many different schools, financial insecurity and an increased de- mand for their services. There is an emerging understanding that
mental health is a part of overall health and that the outdated stigmas about mental ill- ness must be discarded. Employers are re- sponsible for providing an environment that is both physically and psychologically safe and both physical and psychological inju- ries/illness that happen at work are occupa- tional injuries/illness. If you twist your ankle on the job, that’s
a workplace injury/illness and you are paid and supported by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). If you experience a traumatic event or chronic mental stress that could also be a workplace injury/illness. But very few workers report traumatic events or chronic mental stress, although they may ac- cess their sick leave and benefits. Others will “muscle through,” believing that the system cannot go on without them. One respon- dent to the survey said, “I have never been this tired or stressed out before … we cannot take days off because there are not enough OTs to cover our classes.” The Canadian Standards Association re-
leased the voluntary CSA Standard for Psy- chological Health and Safety in the Workplace in 2013. This June, the International Orga- nization for Standardization released ISO 45003: Psychological Health and Safety at Work. But these standards are only guide- lines. There are not yet minimum standards to hold employers accountable for mental health in the workplace. Workplace violence and harassment were
added to the Occupational Health and Safety Act in 2010, yet we are still struggling to hold employers accountable for protecting us from those hazards. Change is slow, and there’s a long way to
go to address mental health hazards in the workplace. Very few employers take respon- sibility for creating a psychologically safe workplace beyond motivational posters and
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