By Tim Petersen, CEO, WorkSafeNB
Our vision is to make New Brunswick the safest place to work, transcending language and cultural differences.
New Brunswick is a dynamic and diverse province, enriched by talents from around the world contributing to our collective progress. This includes newcomers, individuals with English or French as their second language, and temporary foreign workers. We acknowledge that these workers may face challenges in the workplace, making it essential to equip them with the knowledge and tools for a safe working environment.
To assist, we've created a webpage and launched a social media awareness campaign with resources designed to communicate key insights about occupational health and safety, and emphasizing the rights and responsibilities shared by all members of our province.
This includes informational pamphlets we’ve developed that are available in ten languages.
We're also actively engaging with employers, industry associations, settlement agencies, and multicultural organizations. We understand the challenges posed by language barriers, diverse health and safety expectations, and hesitancy to voice concerns at work.
We aim for every individual, regardless of their background, to feel confident in their understanding of workplace safety and their ability to take proactive steps to protect themselves and their colleagues. By offering resources in multiple languages, we're committed to removing these barriers and empowering individuals to actively participate in fostering safe and healthy workplaces.
We encourage employers, newcomers, and temporary foreign workers to familiarize themselves with their rights and responsibilities, including the right to refuse unsafe work, participate in health and safety discussions, and access information and training. Understanding these rights allows individuals to actively contribute to a safety-focused workplace culture, promoting shared ownership and accountability.
By educating employers about their responsibilities and expectations, we aim to cultivate strong partnerships between employers and employees, where safety becomes a mutual value and top priority. Supervisors also play a vital role, recognizing the potential unease temporary foreign workers may experience due to new environments, co-workers, and tasks. Quality training and an open environment for safety concerns can significantly impact everyone's well-being at the end of the workday.
Our vision of making New Brunswick the safest place to work relies on a diverse and inclusive community dedicated to preserving workers' rights. Let's ensure these resources reach those who need them most. Together, we can make New Brunswick the safest place to work and make safety our universal language.
I encourage every employer who works with employees with a language barrier to access our resources at worksafenb.ca/safety-topics/foreign-workers.