Child Welfare Workers with Occupational Stress Injuries: A Content Analysis of Workers’ Compensation Legislation in Canada
Résumé
Résumé
L’objectif de cette analyse de contenu est d’étudier les lois sur l’indemnisation des accidents de travail au Canada, dans le but de déterminer si les mesures législatives en place répondent aux besoins des travailleuses et travailleurs en protection de l’enfance qui subissent des blessures liées au stress occupationnel (BSO). Après une revue de littérature détaillée sur les risques psychologiques inhérents au travail de protection de l’enfance, ainsi qu’une analyse du contenu des lois sur l’indemnisation des accidents de travail au Canada, nous soutenons deux choses : (a) la nature du travail de protection de l’enfance et les facteurs organisationnels exposent les intervenant·es de ce milieu à des risques particuliers de développer des BSO ; (b) quand ces intervenant·es subissent effectivement une blessure psychologique, ils et elles doivent s’orienter dans un système d’indemnisation des accidents de travail qui ne reconnait pas leur blessure comme une blessure occupationnelle et indemnisable. En tant qu’intervenant·es de première ligne responsables de la sécurité des enfants, les travailleurs et travailleuses en protection de l’enfance sont exposé·es à du stress aigu autant qu’à du stress chronique, ce qui leur fait courir un risque psychologique considérable, similaire à celui que subissent les personnes qui figurent actuellement sous la catégorie des « emplois d’exception » (premiers répondants et premières répondantes et autres intervenant·es de la sécurité publique) dans les lois sur l’indemnisation des accidents du travail. Nous recommandons que les agences d’intervention en protection de l’enfance prennent plus de mesures pour atténuer les risques psychologiques de leurs intervenant·es et que parmi les mesures législatives sur l’indemnisation des accidents de travail, les services de protection de l’enfance soient considérés comme un « emploi d’exception » et que leurs intervenant·es reçoivent par conséquent une indemnisation comparable à celle de leurs homologues de cette catégorie d’emploi.
Abstract
The purpose of this content analysis was to examine workers’ compensation legislation in Canada to determine whether and how well the legislation meets the needs of front-line child welfare workers (CWWs) who have sustained an occupational stress injury (OSI). Following an extensive review of the literature pertaining to the psychological risks inherent in child welfare work and a content analysis of workers’ compensation legislation in Canada, we make two arguments: (a) the nature of child welfare work and organizational factors uniquely place CWWs at risk for OSIs, and (b) when psychologically injured, CWWs navigate a workers’ compensation system that can fail to recognize their injuries as work-related and compensable. As front-line workers responsible for ensuring the safety of children, CWWs are frequently exposed to both acute and chronic traumatic stress, which places them at significant psychological risk correlative to that of workers currently included in the category of “select workers” (first responders and other public safety personnel) in workers’ compensation legislation. We recommend child welfare organizations do more to mitigate the psychological risks of CWWs and that within workers’ compensation legislation, CWWs be included in the category of “select workers” and thereby receive compensation on par with their “select worker” counterparts. The nature of child welfare work and organizational factors place CWWs at risk for occupational stress injuries but when injured, they navigate a workers’ compensation system that can fail to recognize the injury as work-related and compensable.
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Canadian Public Policy
Volume 48 • Number 4 • December/décembre 2022
Pages: 503 - 517
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Published ahead of print: 1 November 2022
Published online: 1 December 2022
Published in print: December/décembre 2022
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