A welfare officer at the St Mary’s Home in Tacarigua has been beaten by a resident of the home.
It’s the third serious incident in which a staff member was attacked for the year and staffers, who earlier this year invoked section 15 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act by refusing to work in circumstances in which their lives are in danger, are now appealing to the authorities to do something.
The representing Public Services Association (PSA) said it is concerned that the workers’ lives are at risk, adding that because of constraints under the Children’s Authority Act, the workers cannot even restrain a child when they are being attacked.
In the latest incident, the T&T Guardian was told the child and the welfare officer were on a bus when the child suddenly started rolling on the ground. The officer got up and checked the child, who then turned on the officer, grabbed her glasses and started hitting and scraping her in the face.
The incident came less than a month after a meeting called by the Children’s Authority, which was attended by the PSA, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development Jacqui Johnson and Chief Personnel Officer.
PSA second vice president Ian Murray told the T&T Guardian the issue of staff operating under circumstances where they are being attacked by inmates with mental problems was raised at the meeting, but they were advised by the Children’s Authority that the children’s welfare was paramount and staff could be culpable if anything happens to any child.
Murray said the union has recommended that “the CPO needs to ensure that psychiatric nurses and/or orderlies skilled in deviant behaviour and how to treat with it be employed at the home.”
Following an incident in March, workers said they had had enough and refused to work citing section 15 of the OSH Act. The manager of the home reported the workers to the OSH Authority.
But the T&T Guardian understands an investigation conducted by the OSH Authority showed little sympathy for the manager, whom it said had failed to comply with the act and supported the decision taken by the workers.
The St Mary’s Home is run by the Anglican Board but efforts to contact head of the Anglican Church, Bishop Claude Berkeley, were unsuccessful yesterday as he is currently out of the country. The T&T Guardian also tried to contact the manager of the home Patricia Martin the Minister of Social Development Cherrie Ann Crichlow-Cockburn without success.
