New, funny workplace safety ads from WSIB get ‘slay’ stamp of approval

A screenshot from WSIB’s Practice Safe Work website.

How good is the new workplace safety awareness campaign from Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)? Well, in the words of one young Ontarian: “Slay ad.”

The WSIB said no one thinks a workplace incident will happen to them – especially not young people aged 15-24. Its new #PracticeSafeWork campaign is designed to break down that aura of invincibility using funny ads with animal animations to get them talking.

Here’s a sampling of reactions to the ads:

• “WSIB killin it with these ads I can’t lie”
• “I just wanted you to know how much I’m enjoying your new commercials (the ant, gecko, bird and kangaroo). They put a smile on my face and I’ve even shared them with my friends.”
• “Probably your best most memorable commercial to date”
• “Slay ad”
• “Just wanted to commend y’all for making ads that are actually easy to watch, I have been seeing them on Snapchat and they are so much better than anything else I have to see on my socials.”

The stats behind the dangers facing young workers in the province are sobering. Over the past 10 years, from 2012-2022, 98 young people under the age of 24 have died because of work, including 12 last year alone. And in 2022, almost 35,000 young workers were injured on the job, according to the WSIB.

“Our goal is to remind young people that workplace injuries can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime,” said Jeffery Lang, president and CEO of WSIB. “The videos are funny, but their message couldn’t be more serious: you’re only human and unsafe work practices can get you injured or killed.”

The ads are running now through Aug. 13 on various platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, Twitch, YouTube, PlutoTV, mobile gaming and Corus instream video, it said.

It’s accompanied by a website — www.practicesafework.ca — designed to be a helpful resource for young workers and their parents to learn more about:

• how they can play a role in staying safe at work this summer
• the types of questions they should ask employers about safety protocols and workplace hazards
• what to do in the case of an injury
• their rights and responsibilities related to workplace safety

The website also navigates to Safety Check, a WSIB tool that anyone can use to check out the safety record of an employer. It shows the number of injuries a business has in a year, the leading types of injuries for that workplace and much more.

Watch the videos