Improve safety campaigns with thought-provoking pictures and videos in the workplace.
Seeing images of safe and unsafe work practices is an effective way to improve health & safety practices at work. There is a recent online trend of social sharing of photos and videos of health & safety practices at work. Images help spread the safety messages to the general public. The safety industry is using the popularity of social media to spread the word and improve safety in the workplace.
This principle, used by teachers and marketers, of displaying graphic images to reinforce a message should be applied to workplace safety training programs. Posted images remain present long after health & safety training is completed. Similarly, this approach is used in government regulations with requirements for posting various signs and posters as visual reminders of legislation. No smoking signs, exit signs, WHMIS labels and WSIB’s “In Case of Injury at Work 1-2-3-4” poster are all examples of graphics used to reinforce safety messages.
To improve safety training, employers can easily add visual content to their corporate H&S messages. Wall posters, images on workstation computer screens, videos and pictures on websites and newsletters and infographics can be friendly reminders of safety training. With minimal cost or effort, employers can easily find interesting images to post in the workplace.
There are many great visual campaigns and resources available online to use as inspiration for developing similar workplace strategies. Here are a few examples:
- WSIB Twitter photo contest #PracticeSafeWork– Individuals are tweeting safe work practice pictures.
- Health & Safety video contest – High school students are making workplace safety videos.
- Online Health & Safety videos collections – WorkSafeBC on YouTube
Start by going to Google and searching health & safety images. This is a great place to start. Then, decorate your workplace, website and training materials. These images will get noticed and promote your organization’s priorities, one of which should be safety.
