Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has launched an emotive advertising campaign to get young workers to be more careful on jobsites.
Young workers need to know rights on jobsite
BY GRANT CAMERON
STAFF WRITER
Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has launched an emotive advertising campaign to get young workers to be more careful on jobsites.
The Young Worker Safety Campaign features radio and print advertisements in which three injured workers tell their stories and speak to their peers.
The ads highlight the effects of workplace injuries and illnesses, not only on young workers, but on their families and loved ones as well.
The goal is to raise awareness and also to change attitudes and inspire people to take action to make workplaces healthier and safer.
One of the workers is James Wright of Ottawa. He describes the day he fell off a ladder.
“It seemed like one hell of a good opportunity,” he says in a statement on the WSIB Web site.
“I got a job as an apprentice tinsmith and was earning high school credits.
“Two weeks into the job, I fell 50 feet (five stories) off a ladder and now I’m paralyzed from the waist down. I was 18 when it happened. Still in pain
“As it stands now, I’ll be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. The fall shattered my lower spine and six years later I’m still in a lot of pain.
“Usually, I can only get three to five hours of sleep a night.”
Wright says he misses out on a lot of things because of his injury.
“I was very active, I played a lot of sports, and now what I think I miss most is being able to go out and live free. I find that I’m always dependent on somebody.
“After all that’s happened, I don’t feel resentful. I have a better understanding of what I lost and what I still have. I feel grateful to be still alive.
“An accident like that can happen so easily, at the snap of your fingers.
“So if you don’t feel safe, tell your boss and ask for training. I never received any proper safety training. If I had, I might not have fallen off that ladder.”
The WSIB says it launched the campaign because this is the time of year that many young workers are starting their summer jobs and careers.
This is the sixth consecutive year the agency has run the campaign.
The campaign asks youth to consider: “How safe is your job?”
Jill Hutcheon, interim chair of the WSIB, said young workers need to know their rights because too many are getting injured.
“We believe that it is crucial for young workers to be informed about safety and know their rights and responsibilities before they go into the workplace.
“Young people are more vulnerable in the workplace, so it is vital that we ensure they have the knowledge and support to protect themselves.”
WSIB studies show that young workers under the age of 25 are 24 per cent more likely to be injured per hour than their older counterparts. In 2003, more than 47,000 young workers were hurt on the job, with more than 13,500 young workers injured seriously enough to require time off work.
Last year alone, nine young workers lost their lives due to work-related injuries.
“All workplace injuries and illnesses are tragedies, even more so when they happen to our youth,” says Hutcheon. “This is a serious social concern that touches us all.
“Safe workplaces not only mean better health and quality of life for workers and their families, they also mean more successful businesses for employers.”
Other young people featured in the radio and print ads are:
•Trista Hughes, of Kirkland Lake, who lost her 20-year-old brother Dylan. He was pinned by a forklift he was operating and it crushed his chest.
•Michelle Isaacs, of Mississauga, who lost her 22-year-old boyfriend when he was electrocuted at work.
Young workers, their families and employers can get more information about safety on the job by calling 1-888- 921-WSIB or visiting www.youngworker. com
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