Where do British Columbia’s 28,000 young construction workers go for workplace safety advice?
According to research by WorkSafeBC (WSBC), many of them go to their cellphones and ask AI tools and chatbots for suggestions.
Instead, says WSBC, they should be consulting the people they work with.
Beginning this summer, the organization is taking the bot by the horns with a campaign to encourage young workers to ask their boss — not AI — when they have questions about workplace safety.
“Our Before You Ask a Bot, Ask Your Boss campaign is aimed at new and young workers, particularly those under 25 years of age,” says Sandeep Mangat, WSBC manager of prevention field services.
The campaign went live in June, with paid media and the campaign landing page.
“We are getting the message out through social media, streaming and gaming channels, creator-led content, advertising and a new webpage with plain-language tips on how to start a workplace safety conversation with a supervisor,” says Mangat.
Keeping young workers safe and out of harm’s way is a serious business.
According to WSBC, nearly 7,000 young workers (in all work sectors) are injured in the province every year. Between 2021 and 2025, 18 young workers lost their lives from workplace incidents.
Naikoon Contracting Ltd. field operations manager Shane O’Neill says young construction workers are especially vulnerable to several hazards.
For example, it takes time and experience using power tools (saws, grinders, drills, nail guns) to know the right way to position their bodies and the materials they’re working on.
They also need to learn to wear the right personal protection equipment and to protect their eyes from flying particles.
Another hazard is struck-bys, when a worker is hit by a falling, flying, swinging or rolling object. Many young workers lack a developed sense of situational awareness, says O’Neill.
Working at heights (falls, ladders, scaffolds, roofs, floor openings and leading edges) can also cause problems.
“Younger workers have less experience recognizing when a seemingly routine situation has become unsafe,” he says.
The goal of Before You Ask a Bot, Ask Your Boss is behavioural, says Mangat.
According to WSBC research, many young people hesitate to speak up about unsafe work.
Often the source of their hesitation is not feeling sufficiently confident to speak their mind when they see a hazard, particularly if they’re concerned about job security or how their safety concerns will be perceived on the worksite.
“Young workers often recognize when something isn’t right, but that doesn’t always mean they feel comfortable saying so,” says Todd McDonald, WSBC head of prevention services. “Creating a workplace culture where questions are welcomed and concerns are taken seriously supports young workers and is critical to preventing injuries.”
WSBC says employers are responsible for ensuring the health and safety of their workers, which includes the responsibility to ensure any tools, systems or resources used in the development of health and safety plans are vetted and validated by qualified people.
“In the event that an AI-generated health and safety plan or measure introduced risk that subsequently led to the injury or illness of a worker, the employer’s responsibilities over the health and safety of that worker would be unchanged,” says Mangat. “Employers cannot abdicate or otherwise offload their health and safety responsibilities in cases where AI or other resources may be inaccurate.”
Erin Linde, BC Construction Safety Alliance director, health and safety services, says, “Broadly speaking, any person who supervises workers on a B.C. construction site is legally required to know the answers to relevant safety questions.
“This flows from the Workers Compensation Act (WCA), not just from the spirit of the campaign itself,” says Linde.
The WSBC campaign is “essentially operationalizing” what is already a legal requirement, she says.
“It encourages workers – especially new and young workers – to ask their supervisors: What are the hazards of this job? What training will I receive? What do I do if I get injured? What if I’m asked to do something unsafe?”
The implication of the campaign is clear, says Linde.
“Bosses are expected to have answers, because under the WCA they are legally obligated to.”
A supervisor is required to know only the regulations applicable to the work they are supervising.
Therefore, a demolition foreman needs to know respiratory hazards, asbestos and hazardous materials protocols and structural collapse risks.
A finishing carpenter’s lead hand needs to know ergonomic risks, fall protection for their scope and tool safety.
“They are not expected to be experts in every trade onsite — but they must be competent in their own area and know when to escalate questions to someone with greater authority or expertise,” says Linde.
