Make Safe: Protect Your Workplace from Violence and Harassment
Just under half (47%) of workers in Canada either witnessed or experienced inappropriate sexualized or discriminatory behavior in a work-related setting in the previous year. [1]
Make Safe is a training program aimed at mitigating sexual harassment in the tourism and hospitality industry.
Just as in other industries, sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence occur in tourism and hospitality workplaces. The nature of jobs in places like bars, restaurants, hotels, and events can make people more vulnerable to unwanted sexualized behaviours from customers, colleagues, and even superiors.
Customers may also face sexual harassment and violence in these workplaces.
Unfortunately, such actions are often diminished as being harmless, playful, or “not that big a deal”. The result: they’ve been normalized in many establishments, cultures, and societies.
Make Safe is about eliminating these behaviours and creating SAFE workplaces. How? By being aware of what constitutes sexual violence, learning how to mitigate it, and taking a zero-tolerance approach.
Make Safe training contains two parts, available online in both English and French:
An Online, Self-Directed Course for Employees and Employers
The aim of this training is to empower bystanders to take action in making safer workplaces for all. With five modules, approximately 30-45 minutes in length each, the learner explores how to recognize, respond to, and reduce workplace sexual harassment.
Recorded Manager's Workshop
Users will have access to a two-hour workshop available via a recorded online session. Participants will learn the importance of reducing and preventing sexual harassment in their workplaces, identify strategies and resources to implement the Make Safe online training in their workplaces, and lastly, develop an action plan to implement what they’ve learned through the training. At the end of the workshop, participants are also provided with a Manager Toolkit to build and maintain environments that are free from sexual harassment.
Make Safe is one of many tools for employers available as part of the Discover Tourism initiative, thanks to generous support from the Tourism Relief Fund. Find more resources on DiscoverTourism.ca.
[1] Source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2021001/article/00015-eng.htm
