WorkSafe Victoria has launched a new campaign to help young workers recognise and speak up about unsafe working environments.
Executive Director, Health and Safety at WorkSafe, Narelle Beer said the UMM campaign spoke directly to young workers about common but uncomfortable situations they could experience.
Dr Beer said UMM was also the tall, orange, furry star of the campaign, who was named for the expression that comes to mind when people were not sure what to say.
“Like many young workers UMM is eager to make a good impression, but can feel a little awkward about speaking up if something feels unsafe,” she said.
“No worker should ever feel unsafe.
“We’ve all experienced that ‘umm’ feeling before, so we want to empower young people to better understand their rights and feel confident speaking up when something isn’t safe.”
Dr Beer said UMM aimed to teach young workers about their rights and encourage them to speak up about unsafe working conditions.
The Executive Director said the social media campaign, created by young people for young people, represented a new approach for WorkSafe to communicate with a young audience.
She said the campaign would target 15 to 19 year olds who might have started their first part-time job, as well as 20 to 24 year olds in their first professional roles.
Dr Beer said that, last year, WorkSafe accepted 2,431 claims from workers aged 24 or younger.
“The UMM campaign should help young workers identify unsafe working environments by highlighting a diverse range of workplaces and situations where workers’ safety is at risk,” she said.
“Safety is about more than just reducing the risks of physical injury.”
Dr Beer said the campaign would show that unsafe work practices could happen in a range of industries and situations, from unreasonable workloads, to comments about appearance or being asked to complete tasks without proper training or guidance.
