RELIVING AN ATTACK — PEF member Jill Dangler (below) describes how she was brutally attacked (see inset photo) on the job.
— Interview photo by Golden Lamb Productions, Inset photo from PEF archives
PEF’s workplace violence DVD message hits home
Lights, camera, action: Stop workplace violence
By Darcy Wells
The lights are bright and warm. A boom mic hangs overhead and two cameras are recording every word.
Survivors of workplace violence are sharing their compelling stories for a DVD being produced by the PEF public relations department for the Stop Workplace Violence Campaign.
PEF has committed a quarter million dollars for the statewide campaign that will focus on educating PEF members, state management and the public. The DVD will be used at training and workshops, made available to the media and distributed to every state legislator. It features interviews with PEF members, a district attorney and state lawmakers who discuss the changes needed to make state workplaces safe.
Victims tell their stories
“Nobody should be struck or hurt at work,” said Jill Dangler an RN who was assaulted while working on the Admission Unit at Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center in November 1996. Dangler has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of safety and security issues in facilities throughout the state.
In an on-camera interview from her home in Utica, she relived an attack by a patient who had been transferred from Mid-Hudson PC — one of the state’s forensic hospitals for people who are criminal and mentally ill.
“He broke the bones in my face that hold up my eye, my jaw; I could hardly even talk. I lost teeth.” Dangler said.
Her attacker’s history included breaking and entering; arson of a church; and the savage murder of a woman in her home.
Dangler described how the attack devastated her family. Dangler and her husband also felt violated a second time when they went to the Utica Police Department the day after the attack to file charges.
“When we got down there, as I told police what happened and that I wanted to press charges, this officer said to me, ‘Well, you knew of the risks when you took the job.’ They didn’t even want to take my statement.”
It was only at the insistence of her husband that the police finally took the report.
Murder victim not forgotten
Kelly Scanlon-North was also in front of the cameras and under the lights in her Buffalo home recently to share her painful experience with workplace violence.
Her mother, Judi Scanlon, a PEF member, RN and intensive case manager, had been murdered by a client in her care in November 1998. She was on what was scheduled as a routine, home visit when the patient attacked and killed her.
“We miss her very much,” said Scanlon-North. “She was very much needed in this family.”
Scanlon-North agreed to be part of the DVD to build support for Judi’s law. The Judi Scanlon Bill, sponsored by state Sen. George Maziarz of Brockport and Assembly Member Sam Hoyt of Buffalo, would establish requirements to protect mental health workers doing home visits and fieldwork. The bill was passed in the Assembly but failed in the Senate. It will be reintroduced this legislative session.
Prosecutor steps up
Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark was interviewed in his Buffalo office in December. Clark, who was recently elected president of the New York State District Attorneys Association, has worked closely with PEF to aggressively prosecute workplace violence cases at state facilities.
“Every day your members walk into institutions, hospitals and other facilities and they know that something could happen,” Clark said. “They are aware of it. Let’s say something does happen: Are we supposed to forget it because it didn’t happen in a bar? If there is to be an order created and any deterrent and retribution to that type of conduct, then we have to treat it seriously. I know we’re in difficult budget times. I know we have made cutbacks and we can’t do everything everyone would like us to do, but isn’t public safety or shouldn’t it be our highest priority?”
D.A. GOES ON THE RECORD — Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark talks about aggressive prosecution for workplace violence cases. — Interview photo by Golden Lamb Productions
PR campaign
The DVD is just one element of the public relations campaign which will also include print ads, buttons, posters, stickers and other educational materials and an aggressive legislative agenda aimed at getting three bills passed.
The workplace violence prevention bill sponsored by Assembly Member Susan John and state Sen. Nick Spano would require public employees to assess their workplaces and develop and implement prevention programs. The Judi Scanlon bill is the second. And a bill sponsored by state Sen. John Robach and Assembly Member John that would require an annual report on workplace injuries in state agencies along with the costs resulting from those injuries is third. Bill numbers were not available at press time.
If you were assaulted or threatened at work, your story could be a vital part of the documentation needed for legislation and effective workplace violence prevention programs. You have the option of remaining anonymous, but send in all the details of the incident, what could have been done to prevent it, and the type of support you received.
Mail your story to: Workplace Violence Campaign, PEF Health & Safety Department, PO Box 12414, Albany, NY 12212 or e-mail it to
JRosen@pef.org.
The
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