Yossi Berger recently criticized the award-winning “Homecoming” ads of WorkSafe that have been rebroadcast in the US. Berger said that the awareness raising ads do not contribute to saving lives.
Workplace Health & Safety Queensland has produced a series of survivor stories that, if the wider working community gets to see them, are an enlightening view of the reality of work-related injuries. The latest film in the series is “Between a rock and a hard place – The Garry Nichols story” and concerns the impact of a tractor roll-over.
The films benefit enormously from the analysis of contributing factors to the incident. These come not only from OHS inspectors but also the relatives and the survivors. In the rollover incident we hear from his wife that Garry Nichols “was not careless but over-confident in his ability” – an important distinction.
The WHSQ films use some of the “homecomings” approach but are less saccharine or manipulative, perhaps less “slick”. But then these films are not intended to be prime-time advertisements. They are stories, important stories of real people and real suffering.
WHSQ should be applauded for establishing a Youtube channel for its videos. Other OHS organisations with Youtube channels include WorkSafe Victoria who has included videos of some of the lectures/seminars it conducted in the 2010 WorkSafe Week, and the Institute of Occupational Safety & Health.