The Five Demands

Assenze per malattia di gran lunga superiori a quelle del personale del corpo di polizia, del servizion civile e dei consilieri, fortemente criticati di assenteismo

Ventottomila giorni di assenze per malattia del personale penitenziario, nell’arco dello scorso anno. Una cifra  rivelata da UTV che spodesta il personale del corpo di polizia, del servizio civile e i consiglieri, dal trono dell’assenteismo.
In parole povere, i dipendenti del servizio penitenziaro hanno trascorso mediamente 3 settimane lontano dal posto di lavoro.
Una cifra “inaccettabile” nonostante si sia lavorato per arginare questo fenomeno, così come ammesso Ronnie Aromour a nome del NI Prison Service.
La Prison Officers’ Association ‘ha difeso personale, dicendo che gli attacchi da parte dei detenuti hanno svolto un ruolo importante nel crescente congedo per malattia. Attacchi in costante aumento a Maghaberry e Hydebank dove gli agenti carcerari sono stati vittime di accoltellamenti, di aggressioni, di lanci di escrementi, di urina, e di liquidi caldi.
Paul Givan, esponente DUP del Justice Committee, ha dichiarato: “Penso che sia importante ricordare che – giorno dopo giorno – gli agenti di polizia penitenziaria hanno a che fare con criminali condannati,  individui pericolosi”.
“Lavorano in un ambiente dove alcuni di loro vengono assaliti, sono fisicamente intimidito …Si riportano significativi problemi di salute mentale, anche per quanto riguarda il personale del carcere, a causa della natura del lavoro che svolge.”

Video News

28,000 ‘sick days’ for NI prison staff (UTV)
Soaring sickness levels among those running Northern Ireland’s jails saw prison staff take a combined total of 28,000 sick days last year, UTV can reveal.
The average amount of time off per prison officer now works out at about three weeks each, representing a rise of 20% on the previous year’s figures.
It means sick leave is now higher within the prison service than the police, civil service or councils – which have all been criticised in the past for their absenteeism.
Ronnie Armour from the Northern Ireland Prison Service told UTV the figures were “unacceptable” and that work to address the problem is ongoing.
“We have been working extremely hard over the past number of years to bring the figure down and we have been successful at doing that to a point,” he said.
“But we do accept that the figure remains high and we’re committed to sensitively, but robustly, trying to address the issue.”
Maghaberry, Magilligan and Hydebank prisons have all come under fire in recent months, with a number of damning reports prompting a major overhaul of the system.
The Prison Officers’ Association has defended staff, saying attacks by inmates have played a major role in increasing sick leave.
Such attacks are on the rise in Maghaberry and Hydebank – in the last year, prison officers were stabbed, beaten, and had excrement, urine and hot liquid thrown over them. One was even bitten in the leg.
Just days ago, Justice Minister David Ford published yet another highly critical report which claimed staff were exhausted, disillusioned and should be allowed to take redundancy.
DUP MLA Paul Givan, who sits on the Justice Committee, told UTV higher figures were down to the nature of the job.
“I think it’s important to remember that – day in, day out – prison officers are dealing with convicted criminals, dangerous individuals,” he said.
And they work in an environment where some of them are assaulted, they’re physically intimidated … There are quite significant mental health issues as well with prison staff, because of the nature of the job that they’re operating in.”
The Prison Service insists a support network for staff is in place, with a welfare team and counselling available to officers.