Kicking, shoving and pinching: in the health care and social assistance sector, the number of accepted claims for injuries due to workplace violence has jumped 40% in four years in Quebec, according to data obtained by The Duty.
“This confirms a very worrying trend that our members have been reporting to us,” says Julie Bouchard, president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ). According to her, this increase could be due in particular to the fact that patients now often arrive at the hospital in crisis. “Clients who need support are left to fend for themselves, due to a flagrant lack of services and staff, many at the community level.”
The “huge work overload” creates, among other things, an “extremely harmful context that catalyzes violence,” believes Angelo Soares, a professor in the department of organization and human resources at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). “If I’m overwhelmed, I have to administer care a little faster. But the patient won’t understand that it’s due to the organization of work and management methods. He’ll say to himself: ‘The caregiver is stupid, he does things too quickly, he doesn’t pay attention to what I say.’ And then, there are risks of violence.”
From 2019 to 2023, the number of claims accepted by the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) for occupational injuries attributable to violence at work, in the health care and social assistance sector, increased from 1,508 to 2,115. More than half of the injuries recorded last year were due to blows, according to data transmitted to the Duty by the body.
“This increase is troubling. And even if there was no increase, it was already unacceptable. It’s been going on for too long,” says Mr. Soares.
However, workers are increasingly speaking out about what they are experiencing, stresses Julie Bouchard of the FIQ. However, there is still a lot of awareness to be raised on this subject, she adds. “For many of us, being bitten, pinched, slapped, punched or kicked is part of our job, even though it is unacceptable.”
Everyday violence
Roger, who did not wish to be identified by his real first name for fear of reprisals, has many years of experience as an intervention officer at a youth centre in the greater Montreal area. “I see violence at work every day,” he said in an interview with Duty.
“What I see most often is verbal and psychological aggression, such as threats and intimidation,” says Roger. He also often witnesses blows and shoving.
In his work, he faces increasingly complex cases. “Now we have a lot of young people who have mild autism spectrum disorders, borderline personality disorder or intellectual disabilities.”
Roger emphasizes that he and his colleagues need more time with these children and adolescents to be able to take good care of them. And they are in dire need of it. “All the paperwork and reports we have to write mean that we have almost no time left to spend with the young people.”
“A blow to the soul”
Any incident of physical or psychological violence is damaging to the person who experiences it, recalls Angelo Soares. “Each time, it’s like a kind of blow that the person will receive to the soul. These bruises, they are invisible, no one sees them. Except that by dint of being hit in the soul, the person becomes completely ill.”
He believes that profound changes are needed to stop this problem. The working conditions and hours of health and social service professionals must be improved, he believes. “This way, workers will be able to listen more to patients.”
Joined by The Dutythe Ministry of Health and Social Services states in writing that as employers, “establishments in the network have the responsibility to provide a healthy and safe work environment and to comply with the laws and regulations in force.” However, it says it is committed to supporting them by ensuring that they “implement all possible actions to improve their performance in terms of salary insurance and occupational injuries, in addition to managing claims in a healthy and rigorous manner so that services are provided by qualified people and in sufficient quantities.”
The establishments are also supported by the Joint Association for Health and Safety at Work in the Social Affairs Sector, which offers various training and information services in this area, it adds.