Editor:
I am pleased to see that Worksafe B.C. is sending Michael Lovett to the schools to talk to students about workplace safety and their rights (Coast Reporter, Feb. 13).
I wish Michael wouldn’t indulge in self-blame, however, for the horrendous accident that took his leg. He says, “Everybody’s at fault here. It’s not just the management … I blame myself.”
Hindsight is 20/20 and he wishes now that he had questioned the unsafe work he was asked to do. However, there is an imbalance of power in this kind of situation and the bulk of the responsibility ought to rest with the employer or supervisor who gave him the order.
A boss is an authority figure and young people are often taught to defer to authority no matter what and that they must do whatever their employer asks. It is not just an “eagerness to please.” Fear is sometimes behind that eagerness to please — fear of losing one’s job, especially a first job where one feels one has to prove oneself. It can also be desperation if jobs are scarce.
Respect for authority needs to be earned and an employer or senior employee who puts pressure on a naive young person to do unsafe work does not deserve respect.
Anne Miles, Gibsons
