Safety Matters

What matters most about workplace safety isn't at work at all.

 That's the message in a new awareness campaign that hits Nova Scotia television airwaves this weekend. It's just one element in Nova Scotia's Workplace Safety Strategy, developed in partnership between the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education and the Workers' Compensation Board of Nova Scotia.

 Kicking off the campaign is a 60-second television ad, depicting Nova Scotians returning home at the end of their workdays. It's an emotional story, depicting a young boy waiting for his Dad, so that they can play their regular game of street hockey in the driveway.

"Each one of us matters to someone else, whether it's a parent, sibling,child, neighbour, teammate or member of a community organization," said WCB CEO Stuart MacLean, in the news release about the ad. "We work safely so we can enjoy everything that waits for us at home and in our communities."

The concept behind the campaign originated several years ago at WorkSafe Victoria in Australia. Under license, the WCB and Nova Scotia Labour and Advanced Education worked together to create a Nova Scotia version of the same story.

By increasing awareness and supporting cultural change when it comes to workplace safety, the ad can contribute to the strategy's goal of making Nova Scotia the safest place to work in Canada - but it's just one part. Success, in the long term, hinges on action - action by government, action by safety leaders, and action by Nova Scotia workers and employers. We all need to move from knowing about safety to caring about it.

Learn more about the campaign.