I really appreciate this chance to get to know about safety at work in CLE class, because it’s related to our daily life and we wouldn’t even know how to protect ourselves if we had no idea about the rights we have and the proper reactions we should do towards the risks and dangers at workplace, especially as an international student like me who doesn’t know how the employment system in Canada works.

The stories were so scary and cautionary. I don’t think I’ll be able to forget about them in the future. The one stuck with me the most was the girl called Jennifer who lost her 3 fingers while working at the bakery. Before hearing this story I’ve never noticed that I might get hurt even if while working in a bakery. It alerts me that dangerous things happen all the places and all the time if I don’t keep an eye on the potential risks when I work. I remember Jennifer’s mother said that it would be okay if they trained her properly before she started to work, which reminds me that wherever I work in the future, I need to find the professional trainer to teach me each step of the work especially when it comes to using machines and chemicals and stuff like that. Through their experiences, I also know that when I can work in the future, I’ll tell my boss that something is unsafe whenever I find the risk or uncomfortable elements, because “there’s no amount of money in the world can make you work unsafe”. I won’t bear the dangerous factors even if everyone else is doing so, I would tell my employer that I don’t feel comfortable doing whatever is harmful to me health without hesitation. The other thing I’ve learned by hearing their experiences is that I’ll always let someone be near me whenever I manipulate any machine or dangerous thing in the future so that we can call for help at the first time to save each other from the dangerous situation; just in case. Also, I might work with animals in the future, so I really need to take care of myself from fierce animals and know how to react properly if I had injured before I actually work there.

What I can do to help others is: first, I’ll tell everyone around me about the rights they have while working and remind them to keep themselves safe. Second, for my co-workers, I’ll let them know that we should keep ourselves safe by ask for proper training and using our rights; and tell them stories we watched and heard in class to alert them that workplace injuries can happen everywhere to everyone.
It’s really important to listen to all those presentations and watch videos about how to work safely!!!