At a recent safety conference in Australia, many presenters used videos downloaded from the internet, either to educate the audience or to titillate. The internet abounds with videos of people doing stupid things or injuring themselves.
I am not beyond laughing at a man being hit in the testicles. Indeed most “family” movies currently have a bang in the testicles, a fart gag or a pooh joke.
WorkSafe Victoria has made a valiant effort to link stupid internet videos with a message about workplace safety. Recently the authority produced a website “The Pain Factory“. This site has a collection of internet videos that show people being hurt. Whether the injuries are severe and required hospitalisation is unclear.
Viewers are encouraged to watch a number of videos to accrue “points” from which special locked videos are available. These videos depict another bang in the scrotum, a BMX rider smashing his face and a skateboard rider being run over by an SUV.
I don’t like the approach, the language is sometimes dismissive of injuries and the issue of pain is uncomfortable but this site is not meant for me and it may appeal to those under 20 years. I kept remembering the trade union comments about the recent graphic ads and I wondered if, from the Pain Factory, young workers will ask their employers for help or feel ashamed of their own stupidity and not report an injury. There is little indication of the support systems and services that are available to workers.
However, WorkSafe is trying something new, different and using Web 2.0. It’s a step in the right technological direction but I suspect the safety conservatives may complain (if they find the site – it’s not linked through the WorkSafe website, however this may be on purpose)