Violence In The Workplace Regulation
Campaign Lobby Kit
Sample Letter to the Editor
Today’s date
April 28th is the Annual Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured trying to earn a living. Every year on this day in communities across this country people stop to remember those who have died and to recommit to protect the living. This day is also a means to educate the public about the causes and solutions for preventing death, injury and illness at work. Increasingly workers are being injured or killed as a result of violence in the workplace.
Violence takes many forms, and operates at different levels. Frontline workers who provide public services such as health care, education, transportation and social services are subjected to all forms of physical violence such as grabbing, punching, kicking, stabbing, and shooting. Verbal, emotional and psychological abuse that some people engage in and others are subjected to every day of their lives are acts of violence. In some cases domestic violence can follow a worker into the workplace to become violence in the workplace. Bullying and acts intended to humiliate workers are also acts of violence which can result in psychological injuries or escalate to physical violence.
Many employers try to convince workers that violence is just a part of the job. Workers and their unions have argued that violence is not a part of our job description.
A violence in the workplace regulation would require that employers evaluate their workplace for the risk of violence and take action to minimize or eliminate that risk.
British Columbia and Saskatchewan have already led the way by implementing violence regulations which have helped to protect workers in those provinces. The federal government is moving forward to develop a violence in the workplace regulation to protect federally regulated workers. If you feel that workers in Ontario deserve to be protected by the same type of regulations, then please contact your MPP to let them know.
Your name, address and phone number (Editors often want your number to confirm the letter before printing it.)
