By Spencer Sterritt

Study prompted by Nanaimo mill shooting shows deadly strain lumber employees work under

May 3, 2018 | 12:06 AM

NANAIMO — A new study hopes to save lives from workplace violence, sparked by a tragic shooting in Nanaimo four years ago.

The study from the Red Shirt Foundation, formed after the shooting death of Michael Lunn and Fred McEachern at the Western Forest Products mill, spoke to nearly 400 lumber industry workers to learn how to best avoid future violent situations.

Dr. Lynn Jacques, chair of the foundation, said the study provided valuable insight for an industry which hasn’t taken a deep look at workplace violence before.

“A lot more needs to be done training workers in this industry,” she said.

The report showed sawmills in Canada and particularly B.C. are under a significant amount of time and financial stress and there’s very little job security, leading to pressure and heightened emotions.

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Nearly all employees are men with over half of them ages 50 and up. Jacques said many worked side-by-side for most of their career, creating strong bonds but also possibly fierce bitterness given the stressful situations.

Fifteen per cent of those talked to for the study said they’d experienced threats or harm, with more than six per cent saying they were hit or assaulted.

“It leads to a lot of depression, missed days of work, drug issues and domestic violence,” Jacques said of the strain mill employees are under.

“A significant one was companies often want them to work through their coffee breaks, so they don’t get time to de-stress. Those 10 or 15 minutes was a chance for workers to talk about what was happening….that communication wasn’t happening which led to higher levels of stress.”

Jacques said managers talked to for the study were “ill-prepared” to handle any violent workplace situations.

“They hadn’t been trained for that and they didn’t know how to respond,” she said. “Quite often if there was violence in the workplace and someone reported it, then both participants were disciplined. So there was a reluctance to report.”

Marcy Lunn, daughter of shooting victim Michael Lunn, hopes the study will help more employees learn to grapple with the violence they likely see every day.

“If no one puts a stop to it, then it’s just going to keep going.”

The study made four recommendations: to recognize the ongoing violence, promote a culture of trust, establish zero-tolerance policies and educate workers about violence.

Lunn said education about the issue will be the biggest factor in preventing future incidents.

“I hope there’s training so that people can actually notice when someone’s starting to lose it or is having a mental breakdown before they actually have it. I think that’s the biggest thing, being able to know you can talk to somebody and help is there for you, prior to hurting somebody or yourself.”

Lunn said while the study is now over and published, it doesn’t mean their push for more awareness is also finished.

Though nothing is set in stone, followups on the issue are expected from the Red Shirt Foundation.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit