Earlier this week, the Otago Daily Times reported two staff at the OCF in Milburn were taken to hospital after a prisoner hit them in the head and body while being moved to his cell.
Corrections Association of New Zealand national secretary and OCF senior corrections officer Mark Duncan said the attack, which happened on Friday, was unprovoked and vicious.
"In this instance, the officers did everything they could to minimise the risk to themselves while the prisoner was bought under control," he said.
"There was no way to prevent this attack. Spontaneous uses of force happen, and our members deal with these instances with professionalism.
"This is a sad reality of the staggering violence in our prison system and that of society in general."
Working "inside the wire" was often thankless and increasingly dangerous, Mr Duncan said.
"Corrections officers are the unsung heroes of the first responder community. They are the firefighters, the ambulance staff and the police inside a prison and quite often all of those in one shift."
More staff and additional training would go further to addressing violence.
The development of the Safer Prisons Plan by the Department of Corrections and workers’ unions would help to address, and work to minimise, an increase in violence, he said.
"There is an opportunity to enhance this training even further with a better focus on operating procedures, unit procedures and routines that help reduce the opportunity for these violent incidents."
OCF general manager Dave Miller said Friday’s incident was referred to police and the prisoner would face internal misconduct charges.
Violence in the prison was not tolerated and anyone who resorted to violent behaviour would be held to account, he said.
