Be a Snitch

Over the past 10 years I have been astounded to realize how many workplace hazards really exist in our "safe" and "comfortable" society. While, I had been to hundreds of gas stations and hundreds of fast food joints I must admit that I rarely thought about who the person was that was closing up and how dangerous a job that could be.

In the past decade however I have been educated about the dangers that some of these jobs pose. In fact, rarely do I frequent one of these establishments where I don't look at the young employees and wonder if they are being left alone to lock-up, or if their employer cares enough about them to put proper protocols and buddy systems in place.

Last week in Ancaster a young 16 year old girl spoke up in front of her entire school. "Last week the corner gas store that I work at on the night shift was robbed not once but twice. My boss told all of us to keep it HUSH-HUSH-don't say a thing we don't want any of our customers to find out that we have been robbed-KEEP QUIET !---so I quit-is there anybody I should tell? What should I do?"

When I heard this young girl tell her story I was astounded by her courage and her willingness to stand up for herself and help make Canada a better place to live, but it made me wonder...

• What makes an employer in Canada feel like they can endanger their employees just for a buck?
• Are there places/jobs where we just turn a blind eye to potential hazards – how can we bring better attention to these places?
• How can we extinguish the “snitch” culture and find positive and creative ways to encourage whistleblowers?

Over the next few weeks I am going to be posting some ideas surrounding these questions. Let me know your thoughts...together we can make Canada the best place to work in the world!