Hospital housekeepers lack training, says cleaner; WorkSafe B.C. issued several orders against company

Derek Spalding, Nanaimo Daily News

Toxic chemical burns occur frequently for housekeeping staff at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital because their employer has not provided proper training, according to a worker who spoke out against the company yesterday.

She does not want to publicly reveal her name for fear of repercussion from her employer, but said coworkers often have red wrists and arms because of the strong chemical called Virox 5, which has been used to prevent the spread of Clostridium difficile that has infected more than 100 patients and killed three others in the past year.

Her employer, Compass Group Canada, received five health and safety orders from WorkSafe B.C. last week, outlining several infractions and potential hazards for employees at the hospital. A representative from the company said yesterday that Compass has taken steps to comply with all the orders against them, including the purchase of 40 eye-wash bottles, signing employees up for more training, ensuring employees wear proper gloves and conducting a survey to find out all the health problems workers face because of chemical use.

The WorkSafe B.C. report indicates safety committee members do not have proper training, employees do not have access to proper equipment and all janitor ventilation systems are inadequate. The worker, who can only be identified as Cathy, said the employer needs to provide a safer working environment.

“There’s not enough training and when you’re working around chemicals, you need proper training,” she said.

“It’s frustrating. We really feel bad because we think people think we’re not cleaning properly, but we can only clean with what we’re given.”

The inspection was a followup from last year when WorkSafe B.C. issued 16 separate orders against Compass over six months.

Inspectors issued nine of those orders to NRGH and another seven to the same employer at other health facilities on Vancouver Island. The latest orders, issued on April 8, indicate that employees did not have access to protective equipment, such as respirators, goggles, chemical gloves and boots.

Several of the infractions were easy to comply with, according to Dagmar Wilhelm, the senior risk manager for Compass Group Canada. She said employees did not know where to look for rubber boots and that others had not been using the chemical gloves provided for them.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority ordered Compass to switch from bleach to the much stronger chemical Virox 5 to prevent the spread of C. difficile. The company will conduct a full review to find out how this product has affected employees. A regional health and safety manager is on site this week working with managers, Dagmar said.

“We are offering the best support that we can provide,” she explained. “We need to find out why (all) this happened.”

Employees have suffered from nose inflammation, respiratory problems, skin irritation, fatigue and hair loss, according to the WorkSafe B.C. report. Cathy has not heard of anyone who has lost hair, but said many workers have breathing problems as well as severe skin irritation that causes “intense itching.”

DSpalding@nanaimodailynews.com