According to Oregon union officials and employees, the state should implement additional protections to keep workers safe when they operate in hazardous fields like behavioral health and incarceration.
They support a number of laws that they claim will be beneficial.For instance, Senate Bill 24 would establish minimum staffing requirements for prison health care providers, while another measure that has not yet been submitted would restrict the amount of overtime that Oregon Department of Human Services group home employees are required to perform. Additionally, Senate Bill 606 would expand workers’ compensation coverage to automatically cover conditions related to post-traumatic stress disorder for DHS group home workers and employees of Oregon State Hospital.
The Oregon American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees released a survey on Monday that supports those recommendations. Nearly half (49%), of the more than 500 AFSCME employees who replied, said they do not always feel safe at work, and two-thirds had been the victims of physical assault, threats, or harm at work.
The study, which was part of a larger report, told the experiences of employees in fields such as law enforcement, health care, and behavioral health facilities like Oregon State Hospital.
The research highlights the working conditions of workers, many of whom toil in secret, as lawmakers move forward with the 2025 session.
Joe Baessler, executive director of Oregon AFSCME, told lawmakers and employees at a news event that no one should work alone in a risky circumstance.
However, workers confirmed that does occur.
During the 2020 wildfires, Gillian Soderstrom, a former correctional officer at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution, encountered that situation when she had to house convicts from another jail that was under threat.
She once found herself in a camera-free area with 120 prisoners. She only had a landline once her radio’s battery died. She depended on certain prisoners to protect her from other prisoners during a portion of the ordeal.
“I left the Oregon Department of Corrections because the experience was so traumatic, and I wasn’t the only one,” Soderstrom said, going back to work there as an executive support specialist.
According to David Lynch, a registered nurse at Oregon State Hospital, the state’s psychiatric hospital, the situation remains hazardous due to patients’ high needs and the challenge of finding enough staff to meet demand.
Lynch says he was beaten by a patient four years ago. After suffering a concussion, he had to take many months off from work to recuperate.
According to Lynch, those who are overburdened are unable to be alert.
During the ceremony, lawmakers emphasized the importance of taking action, including expanding on previous laws. For instance, a task force established following the passage of House Bill 4002 in 2024 offered suggestions on how to keep behavioral health professionals safer through the use of documented safety plans, safety planning, further training, and safety evaluations.
During the press conference, lawmakers expressed their support for those suggestions.
According to Rep. Travis Nelson, D-Portland, vice chair of the House Committee on Behavioral Health and Health Care, healthcare professionals have been kicked, bitten, and beaten.
According to Nelson, this indicates that too many facilities have a culture of danger and fear.
The problems are related, according to Senate Health Care Committee Chairwoman Sen. Deb Patterson, a Democrat from Salem. Conditions are safer with more staff and less overtime.
Patterson stated, “We must make sure the state can hire and retain the kind of people we have here who are working today.”
— Oregon Capital Chronicle’s Ben Botkin
Established in 2021, The Oregon Capital Chronicle is a nonprofit news outlet that specializes in Oregon politics, government, and policy.
