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Poor literacy and numeracy are lowering productivity

The Australian Industry Group says poor literacy is contributing to a range of problems in the workplace

1 September 2009 – In announcing a large-scale project to promote literacy in the workplace, Heather Ridout, CEO of the Australian Industry Group, said that poor literacy levels are having an impact on both productivity and safety.

Ms Ridout said that some workers could not read standard operating procedures and used machinery inefficiently. An inability to read training materials made it difficult for workers to gain new skills or train for higher duties. Ms Ridout also said that poor literacy contributed to avoidable injuries and accidents in situations where employees were unable to fully comprehend warning signs, written instructions and other safety messages.

The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development estimates that a 1 per cent increase in literacy skills would lead to a 2.5 per cent increase in productivity and a 1.5 per cent increase in per capita economic output.

It's great to see that the Australian Industry Group is now working with the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to tackle literacy and numeracy problems in the workplace.

At the Information Access Group, we place a high value on the empowering nature of accessible materials. Being mindful of literacy levels can have a positive impact in the workplace.

For example we are currently working with Vision 2020 Australia, the peak body for the eye care sector, to ensure that some of their training materials are written at an appropriate literacy level to ensure maximum accessibility. By editing these resources into Plain English we have made it easier to train health workers in the practices of good eye health. This will ultimately promote better eye health to the Australian community.