Nova Scotia Health Authority ordered to conduct safety review at hospital: union
By The Canadian Press
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia Health Authority has been ordered to conduct a “violence in the workplace health and safety assessment” after a pregnant nurse was attacked by a patient at the East Coast Forensic Hospital.
The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union released a written decision by the Nova Scotia Labour Board today that says an independent assessment is “urgently needed.”
The labour board says the assessment must identify controls to protect health-care workers at the hospital in Dartmouth.
The union says the nurse was punched and kicked in April 2018, two months after another nurse had requested a safety assessment.
At the time, the union said the victim was left vulnerable because her personal security alarm wasn’t within reach and was held together with masking tape, which made it impossible to signal for help.
Lyndsey Power, the nurse who submitted the original complaint, says the decision is a “huge victory” for workers at the hospital.
Union president Jason MacLean says the decision puts all employers in the province on notice that they need to keep safety in mind.
