The contract between an employer and employee makes it clear that the work environment is to be a safe one. The onus is on the employer to ensure that when the employee reports to duty their health and safety are guaranteed.Our laws are pellucid on this. So much so, that if a worker is hurt or injured on the job, the employer may be found liable.This week, Barbados TODAY broke the story that one teacher who was being threatened had taken the drastic step of applying for a court order of protection against a parent. Furthermore, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) had advised another teacher to go that route.BUT president Rudy Lovell said the serious nature of the threats forced the union to give advice to the two members – one from a primary school, the other from a secondary school – to apply for temporary court orders as a precautionary measure.Apparently, a parent visited the school where one of the teachers works and threatened to kill that teacher. Lovell went on to lament that security at some schools remained a challenge, with close to 40 per cent of them being without security guards or adequate security.
