Mental health programs alone won’t fix psychological injury among public safety workers

A recent Ontario Coroner’s Review documented 34 deaths by suicide among correctional workers over the past 15 years, with 17 of those deaths occurring since 2020. Correctional workers are one group within Ontario’s public safety sector, which also includes communicators and dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics and police. Growing evidence shows that the psycho-social hazards of public safety work are not being prevented and managed. These hazards include poor leadership support, excessive…