HALIFAX, May 12, 2005 – Last summer, 400 young Nova Scotians were hurt on the job. The Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia is launching a new advertising campaign to raise awareness among young people of the importance of workplace safety. Changing attitudes is the first step to reducing the number of young people hurt every summer.
This is part of the WCB’s broader campaign to reduce the terrible human and economic toll of workplace injuries. Every day in Nova Scotia, 24 people are seriously injured on the job and every two weeks, someone is killed. The WCB assumed responsibility for reducing these grim statistics and promoting safer workplaces in 2003.
The young worker ad campaign features two print ads that will reach young Nova Scotians in the places they gather – school washrooms, bars and restaurants, and youth-oriented newspapers. It also includes a radio ad and a dedicated website – www.considersafety.ca – with information focused on young workers. The campaign was developed based on extensive research with young Nova Scotians.
“Young people often feel invincible, like nothing in the world can hurt them. Unfortunately they are not. Too many young Nova Scotians get hurt every summer. We need to make them more aware of safe behaviour on the job,” said Nancy MacCready-Williams, CEO. “The ads are provocative but our research shows that this is what it takes to cut through the clutter and engage young people in a meaningful way. By making them aware of safety now as they enter the workforce, we are creating lifelong safe workers.”
The first ads will appear this week and continue over May and June.
“These are exactly the kind of ads we need – kids will sit up and take notice,” says Paul Kells, of Chester, NS, whose 19-year-old son Sean died in a 1994 workplace explosion. “This campaign leads the country in terms of doing what it takes to get through to young people about workplace safety.” Kells founded the Safe Communities Foundation, an organization that raises awareness and provides education about workplace injuries prevalent in specific communities.
The Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia promotes workplace injury prevention and provides comprehensive workplace injury insurance to employers and workers in Nova Scotia.
