Worked Up for SAFE Work
What would get you worked up about workplace safety – bumps and bruises? Being burned almost every shift? Three nails in your foot?
All these and more are the everyday experiences of young people on the job, and what’s most shocking is that they take it for granted. That’s what we learned in the course of creating a groundbreaking youth campaign for SAFE Work Manitoba.
Earlier this year, we placed a series of fake recruitment ads for jobs with lots of hazards – working alone, power tools, hazardous materials. Over 2,000 young Manitobans applied for those jobs, and we filmed the interviews. The results are on air now on TV, online and in movie theatres, showing the risks young people are willing to accept to land a high-paying job.
Worked Up shifts the focus of marketing workplace safety for youth – targeting not only young workers, but their parents, employers and supervisors. Research has shown that many young people don’t speak up when they feel unsafe at work because they don’t want to be fired, or they’re afraid of looking stupid or not up to the job. To help young people stay safe at work, this campaign enlists parents, employers and supervisors to “talk SAFE Work” with young workers.
We have also enlisted important partners to help us promote the campaign and spread the word. SAFE Workers of Tomorrow makes safety presentations to over 30,000 high school students every year – and this year, those presentations will include video from our hidden camera interviews and a handout to push students to workedup.ca, where they’ll find safety resources and an interactive job interview like the ones in the campaign. We’re recruiting Manitoba leaders and celebrities to share their stories of an unsafe work experience and what they’ve learned over the years about workplace safety. Those leaders will share their videos on social media, helping us create an online conversation and spread the word to get #workedupmb.
We’re excited to see this campaign grow and Manitobans get worked up about SAFE Work!
