Continued care home workers want residences safer after assaults
Workers at the continued care residences (RAC), where people with severe behavioural problems are housed, are calling for safer working environments and for an end to the trivialization of the violent behaviour they regularly encounter.
“Educators being insulted, assaulted, spat on or threatened with death is not an uncommon phenomenon in a residence with ongoing assistance,” said Isabelle Mantha, APTS national representative for Montérégie-Centre, in an interview.
The Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) represents these workers throughout Quebec.
The union organization held demonstrations on Wednesday to denounce the occupational health and safety risks faced by its members.
The continued care residences are neither rehabilitation centres nor intermediate resources. They provide specialized services for people with serious behavioural or intellectual disabilities who can easily become disorganized and violent towards other users or staff.
“The premises must therefore be fenced off, the rooms secured, the furniture fixed to the floor and the televisions protected by a Plexiglas panel, but this is not always the case,” said Mantha.
“The APTS is therefore calling for safer physical premises for its members, but also for an end to the trivialization of the physical and verbal assaults to which they are subjected. Employers must find ways to make the environment safer.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 30, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bird flu, measles top 2025 concerns for Canada's chief public health officer
As we enter 2025, Dr. Theresa Tam has her eye on H5N1 bird flu, an emerging virus that had its first human case in Canada this year.
DEVELOPING Body found in wheel well of plane at Maui airport
A person was found dead in the wheel well of a United Airlines flight to Maui on Tuesday.
Raised in Sask. after his family fled Hungary, this man spent decades spying on communists for the RCMP
As a Communist Party member in Calgary in the early 1940s, Frank Hadesbeck performed clerical work at the party office, printed leaflets and sold books.
Police identify victim of Christmas Day homicide in Hintonburg, charge suspect
The Ottawa Police Service says the victim who has been killed on Christmas Day in Hintonburg has been identified.
Christmas shooting at Phoenix airport leaves 3 people wounded
Police are investigating a Christmas shooting at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix that left three people injured by gunfire.
Ship remains stalled on St-Lawrence River north of Montreal
A ship that lost power on the St. Lawrence River on Christmas Eve, remains stationary north of Montreal.
Your kid is spending too much time on their phone. Here's what to do about it
Wondering what your teen is up to when you're not around? They are likely on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat, according to a new report.
Bird flu kills more than half the big cats at a Washington sanctuary
Bird flu has been on the rise in Washington state and one sanctuary was hit hard: 20 big cats – more than half of the facility’s population – died over the course of weeks.
6,000 inmates stage Christmas Day escape from high-security Mozambique prison
At least 6,000 inmates escaped from a high-security prison in Mozambique's capital on Christmas Day after a rebellion, the country's police chief said, as widespread post-election riots and violence continue to engulf the country.