Canadian Occupational Safety

16 Canadian Occupational Safety | www.cos-mag.com to recognize correctional officers as first responders and give them access to PTSD resources, regardless of where they live in Canada. Workers' compensa- tion falls under provincial jurisdiction, even for officers who work in federal institutions, like Rutley at Millhaven, which means workers' compensation coverage for PTSD varies across the country. Some provinces have presumptive coverage, meaning workers do not need to prove their illness was a result of the job; it is just presumed that it is. Others have coverage for first responders only, which may or may not include correctional workers. Manitoba and Saskatchewan have presumptive PTSD coverage for any worker in any occupation with a diagnosis who has been exposed to a trau- matic event at work. Ontario and Alberta have presumptive PTSD leg- islation for first responders that specifically includes correctional officers, and Nova Scotia has passed similar legislation that will be in force this fall. Correctional officers in Nova Scotia have submit- ted more workers' compensation applications for PTSD support since 2014 than any other profession. New Brunswick has presumptive coverage for first responders, but this does not include correctional officers. British Columbia has no presumptive coverage for PTSD yet, but the government has said it intends to present such legislation in spring 2018 (details of the coverage to be determined). Newfoundland and Labrador does not have a PTSD presumption, but in November, Workpla- ceNL initiated a review of its mental stress policy. The goal of the review is to "modernize the approach to work-related mental health issues, including post- traumatic stress disorder." Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territo- ries, Nunavut and Yukon do not have presumptive PTSD legislation. Of note, Saskatchewan is the only province to have presumptive coverage for any psychological injury incurred through work, not just PTSD, for any occupation. When Rutley was diagnosed with PTSD in 2015, prior to Ontario having the presumptive legislation, she could only take six weeks off before she had to go back to work because her claim had not yet been accepted and she had run out of sick leave. But when she went off work again last May, she was accepted right away. "We are already seeing some good results in Ontario where now that it's presumptive, if I am diagnosed with PTSD… they are going to get me treatment a hell of a lot faster," Godin says, adding with presumptive legislation, workers are covered for any relapse they may have. For jurisdictions that do not have presumptive legislation, correctional officers need to prove their PTSD was caused by their job. Once they get a diag- nosis, they submit it to the workers' compensation board where it can be under review for quite some time. The same process applies to any other mental health disorders that workers have developed over the course of their employment. During the waiting period, the officer is just sitting at home, not getting treatment and "suffering tremendously" — and this is when suicides happen, says Godin. "The sooner you get the guy into treatment and back to work, the better things are," says Godin. "The first thing I always hear from them is 'Geez Jason, I just want to go back to work, but I can't get there.'" Godin would like the provinces to get together and agree on what presumptive legislation for PTSD looks like — and for it to specifically refer to correc- tional officers as first responders. Behind the walls of a prison, correctional officers act as police, firefight- ers and paramedics. "We play at least one or two of those roles every single day we walk into work," says Rutley. Part of the problem is correctional officers are "out of sight out of mind," says Godin, which is why the union is working hard to educate politicians on how they are doing all three jobs. "We're often the forgotten group," says Rutley. "(People say) 'Oh well, Paul Bernardo has been locked away for the last 25 years.' Nobody stops to think who's taking care of that guy everyday." Nathalie Dufresne-Meek, director general, labour relations and workplace management at Correc- tional Service Canada (CSC) in Ottawa says the organization is working on getting more coverage for correctional officers from coast to coast. "We work closely with the Labour Program of Employment and Social Development Canada to engage the workers' compensation boards to try to make a presumptive clause available to all employ- ees across the country, so that's certainly something we will keep working on," she says. In his mandate letter to Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale, Prime Minster Justin Trudeau said he expects the minister to "work with provinces and territories and the minister of health to develop a co-ordinated national action plan on PTSD, which disproportionately affects public safety officers." In October 2016, the federal standing commit- tee on public safety and national security issued the Healthy Minds, Safe Communities: Supporting Our Public Safety Officers Through a National Strategy for Operational Stress Injuries report. The report lays out 16 recommendations, including for the federal gov- ernment to acknowledge the provinces that have already adopted legislative measures that include a presumption of occupational stress injuries for first responders, study those legislative measures and invite the provinces and territories where this is not the case to consider this type of public policy. R2MR Originally developed by the Department of National Defence, the Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) program aims to improve mental health outcomes for employees and reduce stigma. The program has become a training standard in the organization. CSC worked with the Mental Health Commission of Canada to tailor the training to corrections, so the scenarios are more reflective of what correctional officers encounter. Employees must complete the half-day program, while supervisors and managers receive a full day of training. The CSC is aiming for all employees and managers to be trained in R2MR by March 2019, says Dufresne-Meek. While one objective of the R2MR program is to build resilience, another is to destigmatize mental health injuries. Employees are seeing symptoms in colleagues and reaching out to offer support, as well as taking a closer look at their own mental health. "We have heard some of our employees say, 'Gosh, I wish I had this a little while ago' and it has been very helpful for people because people recognize themselves in the mental health continuum and it has urged some of our staff to actually seek support," says Dufresne-Meek. Breaking down the stigma around mental health is not easy in this type of industry, so employers and labour unions have their work cut out for them when it comes to shifting the culture. "We didn't talk about that 20, 25 years ago. You went to work and did your thing and at the end of the day, you went and had a beer," says Godin, who worked as a correctional officer for 14 years. "When we saw a violent incident in Kingston Penitentiary, when I started there, the treatment program was the Portsmouth Tavern. That's what we had." Kelly Fagan, deputy director of operations for cor- rectional services with the Government of Alberta would love to see more corrections workers accessing psychological services. "Guards, most of them, are alpha male and females, so they are always stoic and brave and they never want to ask for help, so sometimes they suffer in silence until it's too late," he says. "If you rolled your ankle, you would go see a doctor. If you're not doing well, you (should) go see somebody who is going to help you." The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers is calling for a national treatment centre for first responders. An all-too familiar scenario is a correc- tional officer shows up for her treatment program in the community and an offender is sitting right next to her, Godin says. "So you can imagine how difficult this is," he says. "For us, it's a private thing. Nothing against the inmate getting treatment, but this is why we need a place to go. I think sometimes our members are reluctant to go for treatment based on those types of circumstances that may arise." The centre could also act as a research hub to determine what mental health interventions are effective for correctional officers. As it stands now, there is a wide range of psychological safety pro- grams running at federal and provincial institutions and community correctional centres across the coun- try, but it's unclear what's working. "I genuinely believe there is a lot of potential… but it's a matter of figuring out what would be ideal in that context," says Ricciardelli. The Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment has developed an online tool for public safety personnel to screen themselves for mental health disorders. Individuals can complete a questionnaire for various disorders, including anxi- ety, depression, PTSD, panic disorder, alcohol abuse and social anxiety disorder, and see how they com- pare to other corrections workers. This is important because a worker could be higher than average for We didn't talk about that 20, 25 years ago. You went to work and did your thing and at the end of the day, you went and had a beer.

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