ONA marks first anniversary of the passing of Justice Archie Campbell
The 54,000 registered nurses and allied health professionals of the Ontario Nurses' Association's (ONA) note the first anniversary of the passing of Justice Archie Campbell, author of the report on SARS that advocated for safer workplaces for health-care workers. Justice Campbell died last April 17, a few months after releasing his insightful report on what went wrong during SARS and how to prevent a recurrence and similar mistakes in the next outbreak.
“ONA members were an integral part of Justice Campbell's investigation,” notes President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. “The insight he gained from interviewing front-line caregivers informed his very thorough report and resulted in an outstanding set of recommendations to improve their health and safety.”
Among the recommendations made by Justice Campbell was that hospitals and health-care facilities must adopt the precautionary principle – meaning that the health and safety of workers must come first. ONA believes this is the most important goal for improving the safety of its front-line members and that much more must be done to make it a reality in workplaces.
“ONA is forever grateful to Justice Campbell for his recognition of the courage that nurses showed during SARS, for his crediting nurses for helping to halt the outbreak, and for his forceful argument that front-line staff must be kept safe by bridging the dangerous divide between infection control and occupational health and safety that exists in the health-care sector, and by erring on the side of caution, particularly in providing protective equipment,” said Haslam-Stroud.
Since Justice Campbell's report was released, ONA has pushed for his recommendations to be implemented. ONA met with the Ministry of Labour on April 15; Justice Campbell's SARS report made 83 recommendations and ONA notes that many have yet to be implemented. ONA believes that the government must appoint one individual to oversee implementation.
“Occupational health and safety and workplace violence are of great concern to ONA,” said Haslam-Stroud. “While we have made progress, and the province is stockpiling safe N-95 respirators in the event of a flu pandemic, we have a long way to go to keep front-line caregivers safe. We owe a debt of gratitude to Justice Campbell for his valuable legacy, and won't rest until his recommendations are implemented.”
ONA is the union representing 54,000 front-line registered nurses and allied health professionals working in Ontario hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community and industry. ONA is celebrating 35 years of nursing advocacy – a proud past, a powerful future.
For more information: Ontario Nurses' Association
Sheree Bond (416) 964-8833, ext. 2430 Cellular: (416) 986-8240