How Canada failed our health care workers and mismanaged COVID‑19
The system for protecting Canadian health care workers is broken. It must be fixed before the second wave of COVID-19.
A Time of Fear is an in-depth look at the interventions of Canadian public health officials and policymakers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his report, Mario Possamai chronicles the stories of front line health care workers, so many of whom were needlessly imperiled by decision-makers who failed to consider the lessons of the 2003 SARS outbreak.
Given the high infection rate among health care workers in Canada, the report offers a series of recommendations designed to help bolster occupational health and safety practices – and better protect frontline health care workers – as Canada enters a second wave of COVID-19.
Recommendations at a glance
The Precautionary Principle
If Canada is to protect its health care workers, and the public, during a public health crisis such as COVID-19, it must embrace the precautionary principle. The precautionary principle, a core lesson from the SARS Commission, states that action to reduce risk need not await scientific certainty.
Worker Health and Safety
Canada must establish a worker safety research agency, similar to NIOSH in the United States, as an integral part of the Public Health Agency of Canada. This agency must be granted legislated authority for decision-making on matters pertaining to worker safety, including the preparation of guidelines, directives, policies, and strategies.
Personal Protective Equipment
Federal, provincial and territorial governments urgently need to work together to guarantee a sufficient supply of N95 respirators or better. These respirators are essential in protecting health care workers at a precautionary level.
Accountability, Oversight and Independence
F/ederal, provincial and territorial governments should pass legislation requiring their respective chief medical officers of health to report annually on the state of their jurisdiction’s public health emergency preparedness. Chief medical officers of health should be empowered to make recommendations addressing any shortcomings. These reports should reflect the concerns and perspectives of health care worker unions and safety experts.
“Scientific knowledge changes constantly. Yesterday's scientific dogma is today's discarded fables. When it comes to worker safety in hospitals, we should be driven […] by the precautionary principle that reasonable steps to reduce risk should not await scientific certainty.”
– Justice Archie Campbell