The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group was recently fined $75,000 for violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA“).
The Events That Led to the Decision
This decision stems from a series of events at Brockville Mental Health Centre. Starting in August 2014, multiple nurses were assaulted in various ways by patients over the span of a couple of months. Finally, in October 2014 a nurse was stabbed by a patient with a pen. The nurse, who had been escorting the patient to the bathroom when the patient lashed out, sustained serious injuries and the Ministry of Labour was notified of the incident.
The Reason For the Fine
The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, which operates Brockville, was found guilty of failing to reassess the risks of workplace violence and to ensure policies and programs continue to protect workers (section 32.0.3(4) of the OHSA).
Because non-compliance with the OHSA is a provincial offence, the Ontario Court of Justice imposed a fine of $75,000. The court also added a 25% victim surcharge that goes into a provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
You can read the Court Bulletin about this case here.
The Takeaways
If you are wondering what you can do to make sure you don’t end up in the shoes of the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, here is the takeaway:
Don’t simply provide violence policies / procedures and put them on the shelf, never to be seen again. Dust those policies off at least once a year and even more often when the need arises, as it did in this case.
We also advise involving your health and safety representative or joint health and safety committee in the process; ask them to review the policy and hold a staff meeting about ideas on how to improve the violence policies / procedures, if necessary. More involvement by workers in drafting and revising these types of policies means more compliance and adherence to those policies.
The same principles apply to your other policies, such as harassment, health and safety, sexual harassment, etc. For more blogs about your obligations under the OHSA, click here.
Please note that the information provided herein should not be considered legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only. If you need advice about your obligations as an employer under the OHSA, or need help coming up with and implementing a new office policy manual, please contact us – we are your legal dental team.
