Schools are hazardous workplaces in need of prevention now, study

The following is from the Workers Health and Safety Centre (WHSC):

Violence and harassment in schools have reached a level that demands urgent action, concludes a new University of Ottawa report entitled, Canadian schools: A hazardous workplace.

The report draws upon responses from more than 4,200 education sector workers across Canada and paints a stark picture of daily working conditions in schools.

To be specific, the report found that 84 per cent of respondents experienced student-initiated violence and 95 per cent experienced at least one form of harassment during the 2022-2023 school year. The report’s assessment: schools are hazardous workplaces.

Over the last few years, several reports have documented the rise of violence in Canadian schools. This report stands out for a few reasons: it shows how often violence and harassment go underreported, and how often workers face weak, dismissive, or harmful responses when they do report.

Underreporting is hiding the full scale of harm
Underreporting is one of the clearest warning signs in the report. Many workers experienced incidents serious enough to formally report, yet a large share did not file reports. The reasons were telling:
Some workers believed nothing would change
Some did not have time during the workday
Some felt the incident would be treated as minor
Some lacked confidence in the reporting process itself.
This kind of underreporting carries real consequences. When reports are missing, the full scale of workplace hazards stays hidden. Prevention efforts weaken, resources fall short, unsafe conditions continue and workers are left carrying the burden while the official picture remains incomplete.

Too many workers are left with weak or dismissive responses
The report also shows that responses to incidents are often ineffective. Many workers said preventative actions were only sometimes or rarely put in place. Others described dismissive attitudes from administration. In many cases, workers were left without meaningful follow-up, without confidence that the issue had been addressed, and without the sense that their health and safety mattered.

Reprisals make an already serious problem worse
According to the report, 45 per cent of respondents who formally reported violence said they experienced reprisal from an administrator or supervisor. Workers with disabilities and 2SLGBTQIA+ workers reported even greater issues.

Reprisals included unfair treatment, blame, condescension, and damage to mental health and workplace wellbeing. This is a serious occupational health and safety issue. Reprisals have a major impact on workplace health and safety: workers learn that reporting can bring more harm instead of protection.

The report also found strong links between violence and harassment and burnout, reduced job enthusiasm, lower job satisfaction, and psychological distress.

Stronger legal protections for harassment needed
Recommendations in the report include stronger recognition of schools as hazardous workplaces, improved prevention measures, and better supports for workers. But many worker health and safety advocates believe Ontario also needs stronger legislation too.

Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) requires employers to prepare workplace violence and harassment policies and maintain programs to implement them. But the requirements for violence and harassment differ sharply. While violence provisions include stronger prevention expectations in the form of risk assessments and plans to control and prevent violent incidents, harassment provisions do not. Current harassment provisions are about reporting but not prevention. Consequently, advocates are calling for harassment protections like those for violence.

Training and worker participation needed too
Federal workplace violence and harassment law already provides for harassment prevention. It also provides for training, and joint health and safety committee involvement in the creation of training, risk assessments and prevention plans.

In contrast, OHSA minimums require employers to provide workplace violence and harassment “information and instruction”. Training sets a clearer expectation for learning. Advocates argue, workers facing daily exposure to violence and harassment need more than a basic overview. They need real preparation, practical guidance, and ongoing support.

When it comes to joint health and safety committee (JHSC) and worker health and safety representative (HSR) involvement, OHSA minimums only require the employer to share with them violence risk assessments and consult on the reporting procedure for harassment. As with other workplace hazards, JHSCs and worker HSRs could play an invaluable role in creating effective workplace policies and programs for this serious issue.

Effective training for real prevention
Education workers have been sounding the alarm for years. This latest University of Ottawa report adds more evidence to an already overwhelming case. Clearly, schools are hazardous workplaces. Workers need stronger protections that reflect the reality they face every day. They need quality training as well.