Care workers at the only detention centre for children in the State are “fearful of the consequences” of taking industrial action over their concerns about staffing levels and safety.Staff at Oberstown Children Detention Campus in north Co Dublin took part in a fourth non-consecutive work stoppage on Tuesday. One striking care worker said “the core issue” of the industrial action was “the safety of the young people inside and the safety of staff working in a challenging environment”.“Staff are stretched in doing their duties ... there are protocols in place with regard to safety and when we don’t have enough staff, the risks increase,” they said, adding that a number of workers “have been injured” on the job, are “out on long-term sick leave” or “have had to take early retirement” due to the work.Physical attacks “don’t happen every day”, the person added, “but from time to time, depending on certain situations, there are physical risks working in that environment for both the young people and the staff”.“There’s been no answers [from Oberstown management]. It’s essentially just ‘kick the can down the road and go from there’,” they added. Most striking workers declined to speak to The Irish Times while on the picket line, with one agreeing to do so only on the condition of anonymity.“Communication between management and staff over the last number of weeks has been very direct and staff, perhaps, are fearful of the consequences ... of taking industrial action,” they said. “I would say there would be a fear around talking about it.”Nearly 40 care workers organised a picket line at the staff entrance of the facility from 9am on Tuesday, which was to remain in place for 12 hours.Most held placards with slogans such as “Oberstown in Crisis” and “Staff Crisis = Care Crisis”, with the Fórsa logo printed on them. Another featured a photograph of Minister for Children Norma Foley and the words “protect your staff”. Deirdre O’Connell, assistant secretary general of Fórsa, which represents the care workers, said “the catalyst” of the prolonged industrial action was Foley announcing “there was definitely going to be a bed increase” at the detention facility.“It was always mooted in the background, but it was never confirmed. In February, it was confirmed that it is going to happen,” O’Connell said, “and not only was it going to happen sooner rather than later, there were no negotiations with the stakeholders, which is ourselves, Fórsa.”She added: “We haven’t been able to get into those meaningful engagements, because, one, we’re already at a staffing deficit for what we have, and now we have an escalating situation.”The union on Monday announced its members’ intention to withdraw from work for 48 hours next week as the dispute with management worsened. “No action is necessary if they would sit and talk to us, that is the long and the short of it,” O’Connell said. “Do you think that all of these workers wish to be out on a picket line to try to get their voices heard? No, they don’t. They want to be in there, doing what they love to do, even though it’s a very complex environment to work in,” O’Connell said.In a statement, Oberstown management said next week’s planned action “creates a direct and unacceptable risk to the safety, security and wellbeing of staff, young people and all those on campus”.“Oberstown fully respects the right of staff to engage in lawful industrial action. However, industrial action in a children detention campus must be managed in a way that protects the rights, welfare and safety of the children in our care,” it added.“The withdrawal of all frontline care staff without derogation in this environment creates serious operational, safeguarding and child welfare risks ... Children should not be used, directly or indirectly, as a means of escalating an industrial dispute.”