Mental health claims filed by city employees on the rise By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 1:23 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 12, 2024 Last Modified: 5:44 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 12, 2024 Updates

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Psychological claims among City of Winnipeg employees jumped higher last year, with some first responders among those struggling with mental-health concerns.

The number of psychological claims from staff accepted by the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba rose by 31 per cent to 182 in 2023, up from 139 the previous year. Such claims accounted for 34 per cent of all time lost to WCB claims, a workplace safety report notes.

“It does give me great concern…. You take a look at what the pandemic has done across, not only the City of Winnipeg, but other sectors as well. The health and mental health of individuals has really suffered…. (For) our emergency services personnel, the things that they are facing on a day-to-day basis (are) very concerning,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

Gillingham noted the city has added new mental-health supports, while unions successfully bargained for others, which could be helping ensure concerns get reported more than in the past.

Tom Bilous, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said his members are seeing “more and more unnatural things” on the job.

“(After) seeing things no human should have to see, repeatedly, including machete attacks… (the claims have) absolutely trended (up),” said Bilous.

The union leader said firefighters now tend to spend more time at a scene and endure more traumatic experiences per shift.

“Psychological injuries often far exceed our physical injuries, which says something when we work an inherently dangerous job, known for slips and falls and burns…. Especially with (the use of) opioids, meth, introduction of fentanyl … people are doing things we could not even have imagined even five years ago. Now it’s almost routine. People jumping on the fire trucks, assaulting our members,” said Bilous.

The findings reflect workers in all city departments, including WFPS and the Winnipeg Police Service, though the report did not provide exact numbers by department. In 2021, WFPS created a behavioural Health Unit with a nurse and administrative assistant and worked with a clinical psychologist in 2023, in an attempt to connect employees with mental-health services.

Bilous believes the number of claims would have soared higher, if those services had not been added.

“We have more resources and people are willing to talk… I think that has kept more people at work that would otherwise be off,” he said.

WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt said emergency work can be extremely stressful, especially when increased drug use is factored in.

“We’ve certainly noticed a marked increase associated with the opioid (and drug) crisis in the city… and the very erratic behaviour that is sometimes associated with meth use. And this has an impact on our staff, particularly when people feel their safety has been put at risk,” said Schmidt.

Dispatch protocols have changed to avoid sending WFPS staff to incidents involving violence and weapons until police can secure the scene, he said.

Schmidt said the behavioural unit has also helped, noting WFPS recently added an additional part-time behavioural-health nurse for a three-month term, which is set to expire this month but may be extended. He said that measure followed the death of firefighter Preston Heinbigner, who died by suicide in April.

Katherine Breward, an associate professor of business at the University of Winnipeg, said increased reporting of psychological concerns is also becoming more common at many workplaces.

“This is part of a broader trend in that we are seeing dramatically increased numbers of mental-health claims,” Breward said, adding there is greater understanding about seeking help when struggling.

“It means that people will seek out help before they get to an absolute breaking point and they’re more likely to have a helpful intervention. So, that’s progress. However, because so many more people are now willing to help seek, we often don’t have the resources to deal with it.”

She noted waits for mental-health supports can drag on for months or years while problems worsen.

Breward said external and work-specific stresses often become a combination problem, making it more difficult for employees to cope.

“There’s a lot of economic hardship. There are a lot of companies that are asking people to come back into the office, which is creating work-life balance issues for some people. There’s broader political divisions in society,” she said.

Workplace leaders should focus more on reducing day-to-day job stresses, such as creating a reasonable workload, allowing remote work when possible and motivating employees through praise and encouragement, she said.

Meanwhile, the total number of work-related injury and illness claims WCB accepted for city staff fell one per cent lower in 2023, dropping to 1,246 from 1,254 the previous year.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga