Ministry of Labour and CAMH Statement: August 2009

On August 13, 2009 the Ministry of Labour and CAMH made a joint submission to provincial court in which CAMH pled guilty to two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and was fined $70,000. These charges related to two patient incidents from 2007 and 2008 in which CAMH staff were assaulted. The Ministry recommended the amount of the fine based on CAMH’s actions to address the issues.

Specifically, these charges were: failing to ensure that security personnel had key access to the Secure Observation and Treatment Unit in the event of an emergency (which prevented security personnel from being buzzed in), and failing to provide written measures and procedures pertaining to the use of personal alarms. CAMH corrected these issues immediately.

These distressing incidents of violence were sentinel events for CAMH, which takes staff and client safety extremely seriously. We acted promptly to enhance our ongoing workplace safety procedures, working with our staff, patient representatives, families, union reps, our Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, as well as with the Ontario Safety Association for Community and HealthCare (OSACH) and the Ministry of Labour.

We trained or re-trained 500 staff in preventing and managing aggressive behaviour in just 6 months; conducted detailed risk assessments of all CAMH’s inpatient and outpatient facilities; made carrying personal alarms mandatory on all inpatient units; improved electronic reporting of all incidents and debriefings afterwards; and focused on staff preventing the need to use restraints and seclusion on our clients, among other initiatives. We are currently working on a comprehensive 12-18 month Clinical Workplace Safety Implementation Plan focusing on everything from enhancing clinical care, specialized training, accountability, and our physical facilities, to further evolving our very culture.

We are making real progress on workplace safety. In our May 2009 Staff Survey, CAMH staff rated “Personal security/safety in the workplace” higher than ever before (and higher than the average rating for all hospitals). But there is more to do. We are deeply committed to do the continuous work necessary to ensure a safe workplace for our staff, and a healing, recovery-oriented environment for our clients.