A workshop on Literacy and the Right to Know discussed the problems of illiteracy on the job, especially in the context of teaching workers about job hazards. Participants approached the topic from a number of angles: the dimensions of the problem of literacy in workplaces; the impact of Right-to-Know legislation; the role of training and evaluation in the Right-to-Know legislation, and various alternatives to compensate for a lack of language skills. The workshop featured an open panel discussion that included presentations by Gord Nore, Training Manager for Learning in the Workplace at Frontier College; John Woodcroft, Supervisor of Operating Services at the Lake Erie Works of Stelco Steel; Peter Doering, Business Representative for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America; and Doug Felice, Regional Representative of the Workers' Health and Safety Centre. Participants agreed that, although illiteracy and language difficulties are problems in Canadian workplaces, they are attributable as much to a changing world as to any other cause. The great loss in worker potential due to illiteracy and language difficulty was another area of agreement. Participants also agreed that certain segments of the population--for example, Native Americans and new immigrants--have special needs, and that certain literacy tests are unfair to such people because of the cultural biases they contain. Much discussion focused on the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, because of which thousands of workers are being subjected to training for the first time in their working lives and many find it a very uncomfortable experience. The workshop also contained reports from four groups: management (Doug Maurich); professionals (Judy Ann Roy); labor (Peter Doering); and government (Lillian Vine). (A list of workshop participants and their affiliations is included.) (KC)