East Coast workplace safety groups launch new campaign

Workplace safety organizations in Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia have launched two new spots in an ongoing television campaign to reduce workplace accidents by featuring depictions of grisly injuries.

The Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia, the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador and Workers’ Compensation Board of P.E.I. introduced the ads last week.

In one spot, entitled “Band,” a voiceover tells of the relationship between a saw blade and its plastic safety guard while a worker cuts a piece of wood. The ad concludes with a shot of the guard, which has been removed, covered in a spray of blood while the worker is heard screaming in the background.

The other commercial, called “Tape,” tells the story of a worn-out piece of duct tape wrapped around a hot water pipe that “quits” its job as a worker walks past. The spot ends just as the water breaks through the tape, going to black on the worker’s scream.

The ads, developed by Halifax agency Extreme Group, follow previous efforts such as the “Nail” spot that won a Bronze Lion at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 2008.

Shawn King, vice-president and creative director at Extreme, said the spots generate a response because of what they don’t show.

“It’s the implied gore factor,” said King. “Not showing the injury, but implying it and leaving your mind to fill in the rest.

“The other thing is, we don’t want to distract from the point. If you get into showing a guy with his arm cut off, you risk that.”

Along with the television spots, Extreme has also delivered a series of five videos to its workplace safety clients for internal educational use.

The animated videos feature Rod Stickman, a stick-figure character typical of those used on signs. In one video, Stickman hurts himself with a chainsaw and gets attacked by a bear while instructing workers about their rights to demand safety information and training from employers.

King said the light, humorous touches in the Stickman series stand out from typical workplace training videos and help to deliver the safety message.

“They wanted us to create a series of more engaging educational workplace safety videos,” said King. “When you do stuff that’s a little more interesting, people tend to remember it more.”