What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: Literacy’s Impact on Workplace Health and Safety

Healthy, safe workplace environments allow businesses to function as they were meant to. Employers have a responsibility to ensure that standards and regulations are maintained and followed through by all personnel. But workplace health and safety is dependent on policies and procedures being understood and carried out as directed—and adherence to health and safety policies and procedures requires comprehension and communication skills from all concerned. Low literacy skills are not an acceptable cause for substandard work or for not meeting quality thresholds.

This research report outlines the value—including direct and indirect benefits—of investing in literacy with the expected outcome of achieving higher levels of health and safety in the workplace.