As incidents of violence at the workplace are increasingly being reported across Victoria, often against people of ethnic backgrounds, an advertisement campaign has been launched to raise better awareness. And the latest TV advertisement put out by WorkSafe Victoria, which is the state government regulator for health and safety at the workplace, aims to appeal to different ethnic communities that call Victoria home.
An advertisement meant to educate people from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds about their right to safety at the workplace is being aired on televisions across Victoria at the moment.
Amongst a diverse group of people belonging to various ethnicities featured in these ads, is one Sikh gentleman. SBS Punjabi approached WorkSafe Victoria to ask the reason why a Sikh facewas included specifically in this ad campaign.
A spokesman said, “WorkSafe’s new marketing campaign shares the views of working Victorians to highlight the changing nature of what it means to be safe and healthy at work. Victoria’s workforce is made up of people from many different backgrounds working in many different sectors, so it is important that our campaign reflects this diversity across the community.”
When asked what it meant to show a Sikh face, representative of an ever-growing Punjabi population in Australia in general and Victoria in particular, the spokesman added: “We hope that by seeing someone who appears to have a similar background to themselves in the ad, Punjabi employers and workers will identify that workplace health and safety is an important issue for them and the wider community.”
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the highest numbers of people with a Punjabi background work in the sectors like transport, post services, warehousing, health care, social assistance, accommodation and food services.
WorkSafe also runs campaigns in several languages to ensure non-English speaking workers and employers are aware of their rights and obligations when it comes to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace.
However, despite SBS Punjabi’s request, WorkSafe Victoria was unable to divulge details of the Sikh model.
