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A labour relations professor is taking the government of Alberta to task when it comes to workplace safety, saying changes like more Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) inspectors, higher enforcement and harsher penalties are needed to ensure a safe workplace for teachers and other workers in the province.
READ MORE: Kicked, punched, scratched: 311 incidents of student violence towards Edmonton teachers in 1 year
Athabasca University professor Bob Barnetson says Alberta, along with other provinces and territories across the country, has “failed” to make OHS laws effective and is passing the buck to school boards to ensure safety.
Global News spoke with half a dozen teachers across the province who voiced concerns about lack of supports, insufficient training and a culture of discouraging the reporting of incidents of violence against teachers.
“Employers are particularly prone to addressing safety hazards in the workplace,” Barnetson said.
“Only half of Alberta employers have even gone through and identified the hazards of their places and some ways to control them.”
READ MORE: Incidents of student violence against teachers likely higher than reported, experts say
“Amy” had always wanted to go into teaching and became an educational assistant (EA) in a school division north of Edmonton earlier this year. Global News granted Amy and other teachers in this story anonymity due to concerns over speaking out about the sensitive topic of violence in the classroom.
Amy and another EA worked with a child who had special needs. She said though there was some training, she did not feel she was properly educated on how to deal with the severity of the student’s aggression.
“I often felt anxious going into the classroom and sometimes, unfortunately, I felt I was flying by the seat of my pants,” Amy said.
From her first day at work, she said the violent outbursts took place daily and would involve kicking, punching and scratching.
But one incident changed the course of her life – when she was headbutted by a student.
READ MORE: For every 10 Canadian teachers, at least 4 have endured violence from students
“I let my guard down. I was crouched beside him in a vulnerable position, just gently holding his hands. He did turn and he did headbutt me to the point where I saw stars. I broke my nose,” she said, adding she also sustained whiplash and a moderate concussion.
“You’re physically in pain. You’re drained because you can’t sleep properly because of your concussion. You have headaches. You don’t feel like yourself.”
Amy said the incident essentially stripped her of her independence; she underwent weeks of physiotherapy, no longer works as an EA and is looking for a new job.
“All of the dreams I had over 10 years were gone,” she said snapping her finger. “Just like that.”
“I feel like I’m starting over.”
She said she’s “extremely” scared about going back to a classroom.
“Right now, in our classrooms, teachers are getting hurt. EAs are getting hurt. Staff in general at any school are getting hurt. We have kids that have special needs where people are getting hurt and it’s not a safe environment for either the staff or the students.”
“Do I want to work with kids or be open to being a positive role model or helping a child? I would in a heartbeat. I want to know I’m going to be safe. To feel vulnerable like this…is disheartening.”
Amy said more discussion about student violence against teachers, which many consider taboo to speak about, is important to try and help keep EAs and teachers safe.
“There are so many good people working the schools that are getting torn… physically, mentally and emotionally. That’s who we’re going to end up losing, the ones who care.”
Amy’s story is just one. Documents obtained through freedom of information requests (FOIP) revealed there were 311 reported incidents of violence towards teachers or educational assistants in one school year in Edmonton. The incidents involved students kicking, biting and punching their teacher. Many incidents required first aid; 45 involved medical attention or required time off.
The teachers and EAs who spoke to Global News said they did not have the supports or training they needed to deal with the violent students, most of whom they said had special needs. Others said the severity of the incidents was sometimes downplayed by administration. Many feared repercussions against their career, including being blacklisted, if they reported the incidents.
Labour expert suggests more inspectors, enforcement
Global News shared the experiences of these teachers with Labour Minister Christina Gray. She admitted the incidents are “heartbreaking” but stopped short of calling for any type of governmental action. In response to nearly every question, Gray touted how the government updated OHS legislation in the summer.
READ MORE: Revamped workplace rules to make it easier for Albertans to refuse unsafe work
“There are a number of areas we’ve been able to improve the legislation and that in turn will begin to help improve processes, policies and procedures at all of these worksites,” she said.
Read the government’s guidelines on how to report unsafe work here
Barnetson describes the current system as one that is based on a false premise and does not work, saying employees may want a safe workplace, but employers equate that with higher costs. The labour relations professor said the province needs more safety inspectors and mandatory, escalating penalties for non-compliance to make a dent in worker safety.
He said the recent changes in the legislation, which include the creation of health and safety programs as well as the identification of violence, harassment and bullying as workplace hazards, will take time to filter through.
“Conservative politicians basically gave employers a pass for 40 years. While the NDP have made some efforts to change the laws, there’s been no meaningful change in how those laws are enforced in the last four years,” he said.
“The underlying issue is politicians don’t want to get pushback from employers around regulation. Employers don’t want to be regulated. I honestly don’t know what would break that.”
While schools are no different from any other workplace, they may not be given the same priority.
Read the OHS changes that took effect June 1, 2018 here
Worries about going to work
“Robert,” a teacher who has worked in a school board in northern Alberta for eight years, said he has been the subject of verbal and physical violence from students.
“I have had my arm slammed in a door. I’ve had things thrown at me. Every swear word you can think of, I’ve been called,” he said.
“The response typically is, ‘Oh they’re just words.’ I realize they’re just words but it’s the consistency of day in and day out, multiple times a day with no form of recourse. No form of end in sight, I guess.”
Robert said students have also threatened his personal safety in the past and there was no action from school administration.
“It just becomes so draining. I’ve had a student email me a note saying he wanted to bring an axe to school and cut me to little pieces because I took a school computer away from him,” he said.
“All week, he watched me out of the playground in a way that just made me feel uncomfortable. I honestly believed there was the potential he could do this. I brought it to my administration. There was nothing done. There was really no follow-through.”
Robert, like many of the teachers Global News spoke with, said he was worried about going to work.
“I did not want to be there; I didn’t want to be in that situation,” he said.
“We talk a lot about safe and caring schools. The school should be a safe place for our students. But that also needs to follow though and be a safe place for the staff, teachers and EAs.”
While he said he did report that incident, there were others Robert did not report, due to what he called a fear of having a black mark on his file.
“There’s a measure of: if I make a big deal out of this and get that black mark, are other schools going to say, ‘He’s going to cause problems’ in terms of reporting and making a big deal out of little things?”
Robert said there appear to be inconsistencies in how school boards address issues of student violence against teachers. He has since moved to a different school where he has had no issues. While he has considered leaving his job in the past, he said he plans to continue his teaching career.
Stress over student violence
“Jennifer,” who has been a teacher in the Edmonton area for seven years, said violent situations with students have caused her a lot of stress.
“There were two students who would throw chairs, punch other first graders in the head daily, rip our clothing, rip all of their work, pull things off the wall,” she said.
“I was extremely stressed, losing sleep, losing weight, having headaches. Also, just thinking about the other students – that wore on me. What can I do to make sure the other students in the classroom are OK?”
While Jennifer felt safe in the classroom, she felt student behaviour was unpredictable and often didn’t know whether she was going to be hit, kicked or subject to something else during the course of her day.
“At that point, it was just part of the job and you do what you can.”
Jennifer, who admits that should not be the norm for going to work, said she could have used more support from the school board to cope with the situations, but it wasn’t always available. She said she would have appreciated more feedback and education from the board’s inclusive education team.
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