An initiative in Ontario, called ‘Prevent-It‘, is working in association with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to achieve their common goal, “the elimination of all workplace illnesses and injuries.” They use a method of advertising, called ‘Shockvertisement,’ to get the message across that all workplace accidents can be prevented. The ethics behind this kind of advertising are always up for debate as it usually involves disturbing images to grab the viewers attention. In this case, examples of such advertisement methods can be found in the videos below. While I can appreciate the need to raise awareness for workplace safety I do not see a need for such graphic ads. Especially since accidents DO happen and achieving zero workplace accidents is an unrealistic goal.

In contrast, WorkSafeBC released a similar ad campaign called ‘Slips, Trips and Falls.’ Their campaign features videos with an identical message but they don’t use graphic images like the Ontario initiative does. Their videos still convey their message effectively but implies the disturbing images rather than features them.

Taking a closer look at the message of each campaign also reveals another key difference. ‘Prevent-It’ takes the ‘eliminate all accidents’ approach as opposed to WorkSafeBC’s approach which is just to remind everyone to stay safe.They also have specific informational videos on particular dangerous situations that can arise in the workplace. I find this campaign far more effective and I think that it connects to the audience in a more useful way. Scaring your audience may make them remember the ad but approaching them in a genuine fashion with informational videos is actually helpful.

‘Prevent-It’ Videos:

WorkSafeBC Video: