Hello World:

This post today will cover two very serious topics about the work environment especially towards the youth. The workplace is a place most people have to attend almost every day but not everyone understands the severe outcomes that can occur in the this environment. Today we watched and learned about our safety, rights and training as workers.

To start, we looked at the disasters that occur in the workplace. Here is the video made by WorkBC that outlines 4 youths incidents in their work environments that resulted in a life changing injury: Warning – It is quite visual so viewer discretion is advised

https://www.worksafebc.com/en/resources/health-safety/videos/lost-youth-four-stories-of-injured-young-workers/full-version?lang=en

Now whether or not you have watched the video is up to you but we were assigned like alway four questions about these incidents. Here they are:

1) Which of the four stories made the most impact on you, and why?

To me, I think the person who had their leg crushed by an industrial roller was the one that impacted me the most. To imagine the pain and fear her felt as it slowly broke his legs scares me. He will also be unable to do many physical activities without a leg and may be limited in many carrier options.

2) Were there any facts in the video that surprised you?

Not really, to be honest. I always knew were place injuries happen as no human is perfect but it did bring my attention to how many of these incidents could have been avoided if only the youths were better trained.

3) How have the lives changed for the young workers in the videos and their families?

Well obviously they will be traumatized and become disabled in some way but K think that they will not just change physically and mentally but socially as well. Some of the youths said they were embarrassed to tell people and regretted not doing things that they had previously been able to do. One of them even said that his romance life will become much harder as most girls would prefer a man that could which is sad but truthful.

4) How would your life change if you suffered a similar workplace injury?

Well like previously stated in the box above, my life would change physically, mentally and socially. For me specifically, I don’t know if I could handle the physical pain of losing a body part so I might become really traumatized.

 

Woah that was scary writing about these disasters but now lets move onto the second segment of this post, what could we do to prevent incidents like this from taking place. Here are another four questions that I will answer after learning and reading of work place safety. (Click here to access the material)

1) What specific work-safe practices do you think are most important in the videos you saw? Explain.

I think just knowing what can you do and what you can’t is the most important. If you know that you can’t operate machine well or know how to do it properly, then just don’t do it. It is a worker’s right to decline unsafe or improper jobs if need be so as long ad you know in your limits, many injuries that are not accidents can be easily prevented.

2) Choose one video and summarize its message. How might one be able to transfer that lesson to other jobs?

I’m going to summarize the “compressor scenario”  video as I think it is important. It outlines the unsafeness of a machine without and guard and how nobody from the workers, to the employer did anything. This is important as just because risking safety benefits everyone doesn’t necessarily mean its good.

3) Although these lessons are targeted at young workers, why might the messages of these videos also be important for seasoned or experienced workers?

Just because someone can be seasoned and experiences doesn’t mean they are perfect and know exactly what they are doing. I know this personally as my woodworking teacher at my once said he used a machine without a guard multiple years realizing a guard had even existed because nobody told him about it and it is removed before he even even entered his job.

4) Which one of these lessons do you think would be most “overlooked” by youth? Why do you think this is?

I think the lesson that choosing to work in an unsafe environment means that the responsibility of the injury also falls onto the worker as they noticed and did nothing about it. Many would assume working in an unsafe environment is their employer and supervisors fault but also choosing to continue working means some of the blame is on them. They should use their right to refuse working until proper precautions are complete.

Thats it for this post and see you probably very soon as Carrier Life really has a lot of topics. Bye!