Geri tells us why she volunteers as a Co-Chair member of the Global Legacy Foundation - EYE on Safety Committee​

​

"When I first moved to Canada, I was very young and very excited to have found a job just 5 days after arriving.   My new job required me to constantly use several chemicals.

 

While taking the WHMIS course I learned that to use the chemicals I should wear a mask to prevent the fumes from causing respiratory problems. When I came back to work my boss said not to worry about the mask, as they’ had been doing the same job for several years and never had any respiratory issues. I told him about my asthma and that I would like to use a mask at least when I was mixing the chemicals, again he insisted it wasn’t necessary.

 

I was very young and I didn’t want to disappoint anybody so I agreed not to use the mask, only to find out six months later that my asthma had come back. As a result of the exposure to chemicals without using a mask, I was back on a puffer, I was back on medication, vaccines and breathing into a paper bag.

I was lucky I stopped soon enough that it only took my doctor a mere 6 months to get my condition under control again and the effect of chemical fumes did not leave me with lifelong respiratory issues.

I believe I can share my story with teenagers entering the work force and let them know that just because someone says it is ok for them to do something because nothing bad has ever happened to anyone else, it doesn’t mean it is true or that it won’t happen to them."

 

​

~ Geri