2009 Occupational Health and Safety Week
Interpretation of the 2009 OHS poster
The poster, illustrated by Christiane Beauregard, represents a care professional who is being assaulted at work and who is demanding the right to care without being assaulted. Her aim is to catch the attention of everyone who encounters the poster: staff, users, their families, visitors, and especially the employer. The goal is to denounce the verbal and physical assaults of which care professionals are victims in their work environment. The FIQ OHS Committee’s efforts and its many comments were all intended to ensure that the poster represents the message it wants to convey to the members:
- It isn't normal to be assaulted at work
- This should never be part of the job
The dark side of the illustration represents different forms of physical and verbal assault of which care professionals may be victims due to or during their work, from the most minor to the most serious. Think of insulting words and gestures, ranting, tantrums, spitting, threats or kicking.
The light side is illustrated by the rising sun, a blue sky and a dove. These elements symbolize the care professional’s inner peace, serenity, self-esteem and dignity. The heart in her hand represents her generosity, her devotion, her giving nature, and her commitment to relieve the users’ suffering and provide quality care. An assault jeopardizes the balance she needs so badly to provide care. This explains the dove’s flight to a safer place. The backwards heart symbolizes her distress and suffering.
By this poster, the FIQ wants to strongly affirm the undeniable right of care professionals to work in a healthy, safe environment, free of any danger of assault. It wants to remind the public of the inherent right of every person, including care professionals, to be treated with respect and dignity. Everyone concerned about this major occupational health and safety problem must make it a priority so that care professionals can have a VIOLENCE-FREE WORKPLACE.
