Contest aims to raise safety awareness amongst youth

The federal, provincial and territorial governments have launched a national video contest to help raise awareness of the need for workplace safety for today’s youth.

Each year, more than 6,200 young workers in Ontario alone are injured seriously enough to need time off work. That’s 17 young workers every single day.

The “It’s Your Job” contest invites contestants to submit a video of up to two minutes on any topic related to awareness about workplace health and safety, or employment standards.

With cash prizes of up to $3,000, the contest challenges secondary school students and those between ages 18-24 who are out of secondary school to speak out and raise awareness about workplace rights and responsibilities.

The 18-24 category is open to Canadians in all provinces and territories, and will be held nationally. Secondary school students will compete within their own province or territory. Winning videos from the secondary school contests will then compete against others across Canada. A panel of celebrity judges will select the top winners.

The top videos from all provinces and territories will be viewed by Canadians online in May 2013, when everyone will have an opportunity to vote for their favourite.

The “It’s Your Job” video contest opened for submissions on Feb. 1, 2013. The submission deadline is April 5, 2013.