Healthcare employees at four healthcare facilities may be at risk
Filing several complaints against four healthcare facilities, an Alberta union representing healthcare workers has raised concerns about possible unsafe exposure of employees to chemotherapy drugs.
After receiving over 100 individual complaints, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) sent five provincial health and safety complaints to Occupational Health Services (OHS) under Alberta Labour, according to CBC News.
The complaints revolve around cytotoxic drugs, which damage cells and inhibit their multiplication or growth. The drugs are often used as oral chemotherapy for cancer patients, but they’re increasingly being used to treat other conditions like diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Exposure to cytotoxins could cause long-term adverse side effects like skin and eye irritation, damage to vital organs, and possible pregnancy complications such as birth defects. Certain forms of cancer could also be caused by the drugs.
“We're looking to place our members’ health first,” said Trevor Hansen, AUPE’s occupational health and safety representative. “If that means filing more complaints with the Alberta government, Alberta labour ... we will certainly do that."
Hansen said the majority of complaints come from employees who were not informed of the risks from handling the drugs. “There's a lack of information available to everyone in the health-care world,” he said. “That, or employers are just turning a blind eye to it.”
According to AUPE vice president Carrie-Lynn Rusznak, the union receives near-daily complaints from healthcare professionals and institutional support staff. Nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers should be notified every time a patient undergoing cytotoxic drug treatment is admitted into a facility.
Without a health and safety policy from individual employers, she added, janitors and support staff might not learn how to properly deal with cytotoxic exposure. “If you go in and you don't know that a patient is being treated with that specific drug ... you're at risk,” she said.
While Alberta Health Services (AHS) has drafted a manual that includes recommended safe practices, including the use of personal protective equipment like gloves and masks when administering the drugs, Hansen said the recommendations don’t go far enough.
“With everything we know about this medication, wearing even one pair of gloves is not enough,” he said.
According to Rusznak, Alberta should take a wider stance to ensure all healthcare employees are protected.
“If you put it into policy, then it carries more weight,” she said. “There needs to be more of a combined effort from everybody.”
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After receiving over 100 individual complaints, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) sent five provincial health and safety complaints to Occupational Health Services (OHS) under Alberta Labour, according to CBC News.
The complaints revolve around cytotoxic drugs, which damage cells and inhibit their multiplication or growth. The drugs are often used as oral chemotherapy for cancer patients, but they’re increasingly being used to treat other conditions like diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Exposure to cytotoxins could cause long-term adverse side effects like skin and eye irritation, damage to vital organs, and possible pregnancy complications such as birth defects. Certain forms of cancer could also be caused by the drugs.
“We're looking to place our members’ health first,” said Trevor Hansen, AUPE’s occupational health and safety representative. “If that means filing more complaints with the Alberta government, Alberta labour ... we will certainly do that."
Hansen said the majority of complaints come from employees who were not informed of the risks from handling the drugs. “There's a lack of information available to everyone in the health-care world,” he said. “That, or employers are just turning a blind eye to it.”
According to AUPE vice president Carrie-Lynn Rusznak, the union receives near-daily complaints from healthcare professionals and institutional support staff. Nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers should be notified every time a patient undergoing cytotoxic drug treatment is admitted into a facility.
Without a health and safety policy from individual employers, she added, janitors and support staff might not learn how to properly deal with cytotoxic exposure. “If you go in and you don't know that a patient is being treated with that specific drug ... you're at risk,” she said.
While Alberta Health Services (AHS) has drafted a manual that includes recommended safe practices, including the use of personal protective equipment like gloves and masks when administering the drugs, Hansen said the recommendations don’t go far enough.
“With everything we know about this medication, wearing even one pair of gloves is not enough,” he said.
According to Rusznak, Alberta should take a wider stance to ensure all healthcare employees are protected.
“If you put it into policy, then it carries more weight,” she said. “There needs to be more of a combined effort from everybody.”
Related stories:
Nearly $2 billion in overtime, absenteeism costs for nurses in 2016: study
Aging Canadian workforce poses challenges to health and safety programs
