1.1: Reflection - Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health
It's Your Turn
New World of Work (NWOW) Assessment: What kind of worker are you? How do you view worker safety?
Self Awareness
As we begin our exploration of work it is only fitting that you reflect on your experiences and perspectives of and with work. One of your first activities was to introduce yourself and share some of your background. This next activity is one designed to have you get a better understanding of why you may have certain views on work and worker safety, being ever mindful of who you are.
The Keirsey assessment is one of many types of personality profiles that seek to place individuals in groups with specific traits that may align with career paths or competencies. It is therefore reasonable that personality traits may also shape how you will view and approach safety in the workplace.
Access the Keirsey Assessment here or the 16personalities assessment and record your results. If you use the 16personalities assessment you will need to contrast your results with slides 6 and 17 below to determine which quadrant you belong. You may also just speak to your attribute without associating with it with the Keirsey temperament.
Reflect on your assessment by choosing one of the self image attributes (slide 17) of the Keirsey Overview sharing how that attribute would make you a safer worker. Provide detail, minimum one paragraph.
Using the Four Keirsey Temperaments
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Guardian ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ, ISFJ
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Artisan ESFP, ISFP, ESTP, ISTP
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|---|---|
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Idealist ENFJ, INFJ, ENFP, INFP
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Rational ENTJ, INTJ, ENTP, INTP
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Seeing yourself in the Four Temperaments
| Artisan | Guardian | Idealist | Rational | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self Confidence | Adaptability | Respectability | Authenticity | Willpower |
| Self Esteem | Action | Reliability | Empathy | Ingenuity |
| Self Respect | Audacity | Service | Benevolence | Autonomy |
NWOW-Do you value all workers?
Social Diversity
Respecting and valuing differences is a basic tenet for the future of work. How you view yourself and co-workers shapes your perspective on who matters and what matters in a work setting. When there are differences in who matters, there will be challenges to keeping all workers safe. The following personal reflection activities are designed to encourage you to value differences to ensure all workers matter.
Gender and Ethnicity
Use the the following excerpts from the NWOW social diversity lesson 1 to complete the questionnaire and class discussion at the end of the lesson.
Attributes of Social Diversity Awareness
- Respectful of differences in others’ backgrounds and beliefs in local communities and the world at large.
- Values diversity in the workplace, including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and age. Understands these differences can actually improve products, services, or work processes.
Understanding Sex and Gender
| Sex Characteristics | Gender Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Biological sex refers to the biological and physiological differences between men and women. | Gender combines several elements: chromosomes (X or Y), anatomy, hormone levels, psychology, and culture. |
| Best identified through DNA, the clearest division between a male human and a female human is the type of chromosomes they carry. | “Gendering” refers to the psycho-social division of labor in a society; not to the biological and physiological differences between men and women. |
| A female human carries two X chromosomes while a male human carries one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2008) | Gendering patterns begin early to develop particular skills, beliefs, and attitudes in young “men” vs. young “women” |
| But, there are cases where an XY embryo fails to develop male anatomy and is identified as female at birth, while an XX embryo can develop male anatomy and is identified as as male at birth. (National Geographic, 2016) | Gendering varies dramatically across cultures. The degree of gender differentiation in a country is highly dependent on its national culture. |
| Self-identifying one’s gender, and a rejection of the traditional him/her categories, can be both a social and political statement |
Gendering in the Workplace
- There are still inequalities that exist in modern work environments for the types of jobs considered more appropriate for men and women.
- Can you name some examples of types of work where you feel there is a stereotype of it being a “male” job or a “female” job?
- There are also inequalities in pay scales for men and women occupying the same positions.
- The 2017 Economic Justice Report showed a 20% wage gap between men and women in the United States. It estimated that based on the rate of pay from 1960-2015, women are not projected to reach pay equity until 2059.
- This pay gap increases for both women and men of color.
Understanding Race and Ethnicity
| Race | Ethnicity |
|---|---|
| Sorts people into ethnic groups according to perceived physical and behavioral human characteristics | Allows people to self-identify with groupings of people on the basis of presumed (and usually claimed) commonalities including language, history, nation or region of origin, customs, ways of being, religion, names, physical appearance, and/or genealogy or ancestry |
| Associates differential value, power, and privilege with these characteristics and establishes a social status ranking among the different groups | Can be a source of meaning, action, and identity |
| Emerges (a) when groups are perceived to pose a threat (political, economic, or cultural) to each other’s world view or way of life; and/or (b) to justify the denigration and exploitation (past, current, or future) of, and prejudice toward, other groups | Confers a sense of belonging, pride, and motivation |
| So, defining someone by “race” is not only an outdated category, but it is based upon a history of exclusion and prejudice | When asking about background, ask what a person self-identifies as their ethnicity, not their race |
Class Activity
Having open discussions and striving to understand others from their own perspective, not from yours, is the first step in Social/Diversity Awareness.
What is your global literacy quotient? Take the Quiz. The passing score averages 30%
Next answer the following questions:
- What is your self-identified ethnicity?
- Have you ever felt you were defined by gender and/or race, and what impact did this have on you?
- How do discussions of what makes us different help expand the idea of what is “normal”?
- Is it important to include physical/cognitive impairments and workforce generation in the conversation of what is "normal" in Social Diversity?
Remember, you want to avoid situations like this: