Canadian Safety Reporter - sample

May 2019 | News No safety plan after initial return-to-work plan finished Over the next few months, X's mental health deteriorated. She often said she wasn't okay and hinted at suicidal thoughts. This development and the March 21 incident increased concerns among the Barrie enforcement team about X's mental health as well as the impact it might have on their safety. One officer emailed the sergeant saying "re- cent events in the workplace are making it increasingly stressful and difficult for members of our unit, who have personal safety concerns." These concerns were passed on to OPP command staff and human resources, but the superintendent said that if team members complained about working with X, they should in- clude a request for transfer with their complaint. The other constables contin- ued to feel nervous but nothing was done until July 2015, when the OPP requested additional health information from X's psy- chiatrist. X was put on adminis- trative duties pending the return of the information, which upset her. In late July, the psychiatrist cleared X to return to front-line police officer duties for the next few months, but around the same time X was interviewed by the professional standards board, which made her feel like everyone was against her and her career was being destroyed. On Aug. 2, she intentionally over- dosed on medication in the of- fice and was found by a colleague beside another colleague's desk. X also left suicide notes to two sergeants. X survived this latest suicide attempt, but the other mem- bers of the Barrie enforcement team were angry because their concerns for their safety and X's had not been heeded by the OPP. They filed grievances against the OPP for failing to respond to their health and safety concerns, and putting the health and safety of both them and X in jeopardy. They also claimed the superin- tendent threatened them with transfer if they complained, which was a threat of reprisal for exercising rights under the On- tario Occupational Health and Safety Act. The constable in- volved in the March 21 incident also filed a grievance for failing to accommodate X on the basis of her disability and subjecting him to the professional stan- dards investigation. The arbitrator noted that the superintendent's comment about members of the Barrie team to request a transfer if they complained about working with X could have been interpreted negatively, as they all had worked to be part of the team and mov- ing to regular patrol would be a demotion. However, the arbi- trator felt the superintendent meant to indicate that the OPP wanted to move on from past problems and accommodate X and her desire to return to her position. A suggestion to transfer to another detachment would be a solution to unhap- piness with the environment in Barrie, said the arbitrator. However, the arbitrator de- termined that the OPP failed to follow both its disability accom- modation policy and its occupa- tional health and safety policy. The arbitrator found that in developing X's return-to-work plan, the OPP didn't allow her co-workers to voice their obser- vations and concerns and put X back to work without consult- ing them. In addition, the OPP didn't follow all recommenda- tion for ongoing psychological treatment. The OPP's accommodation policy required multiple return- to-work plans at different stages, but the OPP only had one plan for the graduated return to work. Once X resumed full-time duties in September 2014, there was no further plan or safety plan. The policy also required the police force to address co-worker co- operation issues, said the arbi- trator. "The OPP knew, from (the psychiatrist's) report, that X's ill- ness was recurrent and in remis- sion at the time of his report. It knew that she could have a 're- lapse of her symptoms of depres- sion' and that it was 'likely Ms. X will experience some degree of stress upon her return to work,'" the arbitrator said. "Yet it inex- plicably determined that there were no concerns about X's re- turning to (Barrie enforcement team) and full patrol duties, once she passed block training." The arbitrator found the fail- ure to accommodate X prop- erly put extra stress on her col- leagues, who felt silenced by the perceived threat from the superintendent. In addition, the failure to address the other con- stables' concerns was a failure to live up to its health and safety obligations, given that X increas- ingly felt everyone was against her and she had multiple suicide attempts. There was no guaran- tee X wouldn't attempt suicide with a gun in the future, said the arbitrator. "The OPP's return of X to full patrol duties failed to consider fully the risks to her co-worker's health and safety, or that of the public," the arbitrator said. "It dismissed such concerns, in part, on the basis that she had only tried to harm herself, not others, and because she had not exhibited any signs of violence." The arbitrator ordered the OPP to pay seven of X's fellow constables on the Barrie en- forcement team $5,000 each for the violation of their right to a safe and healthy workplace and $7,500 to X's sergeant. It also de- termined the OPP and its union should develop a protocol for ad- dressing disability management. For more information see: • OPPA and Ontario Provincial Police, Re, 2018 CarswellOnt 14884 (Ont. Arb.). Depressed < pg. 6 ©2019 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-7798-2810-4 All rights reserved. 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