Nearly half of Oregon AFSCME members don’t always feel safe at work, a new report from the union found.
In a worker safety survey conducted last fall, 67% of respondents reported some sort of physical violence, threat, trauma, or injury in the workplace and 15% reported physical assaults.
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) represents workers at the Oregon State Hospital, prisons and juvenile detention facilities, behavioral health nonprofits, homeless shelters, hospitals, state agencies, and most counties.
Oregon AFSCME reviewed the survey’s findings in a Feb. 17 report and outlined legislative proposals to improve worker safety.
Workers feel unsafe because of understaffing and being alone in high-risk situations, excessive workloads, lack of physical barriers or security, and inadequate safety policies and procedures, the report stated.
From 2013 to 2022, on average four behavioral health workers a week suffered an on-the-job injury that forced them to miss at least three days of work, according to a 2024 state analysis. Nearly one-third of those injuries occurred at the Oregon State Hospital.
Corrections workers die by suicide at a higher rate than Oregonians overall, the Oregon AFSCME report said. Understaffing at state correctional facilities has resulted in substandard medical care for inmates and forced overtime for workers.
During the 2020 wildfires, inmates from another prison were evacuated to Deer Ridge Correctional Institution and placed in a part of the building that did not have water or electricity.
“I was working the unit alone that night with 120 AICs (adults in custody), no cameras, keys that didn’t work for that unit, and a radio that died 30 minutes into my shift,” former Deer Ridge corrections officer Gillian Soderstrom told Oregon AFSCME. “The experience was so traumatic that I quit working for the DOC (Department of Corrections).”
Diane Wyss, a nurse at the Oregon State Hospital, suffered a traumatic brain injury from being punched in the head at work. Wyss told Oregon AFSCME that over 14 years working at the psychiatric hospital, she’s seen increased risk and injuries to staff.
Even waste transfer station workers and nursing college admissions staff have faced threats of violence.
“I’ve faced threats and harassment, with individuals going as far as to intimidate me by pointing out the absence of cameras or security. My coworkers have felt so unsafe they’ve resorted to calling the police — only to receive no response,” Laura McCay, a Lane County Waste Management worker, told Oregon AFSCME.
