A new National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) blog post uses Barbie, one of the world’s favorite dolls, to demonstrate what resources the organization has available for safety professionals.
That’s right, NIOSH is using Barbie, and all of the many jobs she’s had over the years, to show off some of the safety and health resources it has on offer.
Workplace Safety and Health in a Barbie World, by Stephen Leonard, Julie Tisdale-Pardi and Tanya Headley, is a short, fun blast of information that unfortunately could be easily missed in NIOSH’s September 2023 eNewsletter.
“While Barbie’s first ‘job’ in 1960 was as a fashion designer, she went on to hold over 200 jobs across various industries (of course with the corresponding outfits and accessories),” the authors write. “While it appears Barbie has remained safe and healthy (not to mention the same age) her various jobs could have placed her at risk for a number of workplace safety and health issues.”
The post then breaks down into sections on resources relating to:
- health care
- hearing loss
- flight attendants and pilots
- office work
- animal-related occupations, and
- additional jobs and hazards Barbie has encountered.
Workplace Safety and Health in a Barbie World is a rare fun read for safety professionals and it’s chock full of links to good NIOSH resources.
Even if you’re not a Barbie fan, this blog post demonstrates how pop culture can be used to help promote safety in the workplace.
