"He threw his walking frame at me. I ducked. And then I went back to work like nothing happened. There was no report, no follow-up. My manager said, ‘He’s just frustrated, you know how he is.’ But what about us?"
This is just one of many frontline voices I’ve heard during this project, stories of aged care staff in retirement villages being expected to quietly absorb verbal abuse, threats, and physical aggression from residents, often without acknowledgement, protection, or practical support.
Managers are caught in the middle, under pressure to retain residents and maintain occupancy, sometimes unsure of how far they can go when balancing care with the rights of others. But the reality is stark: we are breaching our duty of care when we fail to protect staff from workplace harm. The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (NZ) is clear, aggression and psychological harm are workplace hazards; in fact, this type of abuse has a name, it's called a psychosocial hazard and employers must take all reasonably practicable steps to eliminate or minimise these risks. So why are so many staff still expected to “cope”?