B.C. correctional officers are increasingly exposed to blood, feces, vomit, and urine in a hostile and stressful working environment, according to a new report released Tuesday.
The report, Correctional Officers in British Columbia 2011: Abnormal Working Conditions, by SFU criminologist Neil Boyd, cites overcrowding and understaffing as main problems contributing to high stress levels in correctional officers.
Of the 200 correctional officers surveyed from seven correctional centres across the province, 90 per cent had been exposed to blood and 75 per cent have been exposed to feces, spit, and urine over the past year, and 20 per cent witnessed the death of an inmate.
Boyd’s recommendations include reducing the inmate to staff ratio to the pre-2002 level of 20 to 1, down from its current level of 40 to 1, and making improvements to models of supervision.
The report was commissioned by the British Columbia Government and Service Employees’ Union.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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