BCGEU President visits Seven Oaks in Victoria

Talks with members about health and safety concerns

BCGEU president Darryl Walker visited Seven Oaks, a mental health and addictions facility in Victoria, today to talk to members about health and safety.

Seven Oaks, run by the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), has a history of client assaults against workers, with the most recent assault occurring on September 12, 2011.

Being a mental health facility, the clientele is high-risk and there are not proper procedures in place to deal with clients who have a history of violence.

Also, the employer has not provided proper backfill resulting in frequent short-staffing situations. These situations put workers at greater risk of incident and often mean that there are not enough staff to respond to incidents.

President Walker said of his visit to the worksite today, "It was an eye-opening visit.  Members at Seven Oaks could use help getting better health and safety training among other things.”

“The Occupational Health and Safety committee is working with management and the joint union management committee could be strengthened. We're going to help make that happen."

BCGEU has a strategy session planned in Victoria on December 6 for members working in VIHA mental health and addictions services.

In the session, members will identify issues and work on strategies to persuade VIHA to take greater measures to prevent workplace violence and comply with legislative requirements.