By Heidi Croot
School’s out and summer jobs beckon. Young workers, some of them entering the job market for the first time in their lives, start out eager to please and breathtakingly inexperienced.
It can be a formula for tragedy.
Between 2001 and 2008, workers aged 15 to 24 sustained 573 critical injuries. During that period, 27 individuals died as a result of workplace injuries—shattering the lives of families, friends and colleagues.
Rob Ellis lives this reality daily. His 18-year-old son David died 10 years ago as a result of a preventable workplace incident on his second day at work, a heartbreaking example of the fact that injuries are four times more likely to occur during the first month on the job than at any other time.
That’s why Ellis, president of Our Youth at Work, and a former president of a business servicing the food and restaurant industry, applauds the MOL’s decision to focus on young and new workers in June. “The blitz tells us that the Ministry of Labour is protecting the health and safety of Ontario’s future leaders,” he says. “It knows that the way to achieve The Road to Zero [injuries, illnesses and fatalities] is by transferring knowledge to young workers, and making sure they understand that the government cares about and respects them.”
Keep kids safe by emphasizing the basics
Since David’s death, Rob has become a tireless advocate for the well-being of other people’s children. He knows that managing risk doesn’t have to be a costly proposition, and continually encourages employers to revisit the basics of what he calls “OT”—orientation and training.
What does great OT look like? “Show new workers every possible place where they might slip, fall, or get cut or burned,” says Ellis. “There’s no need to hand out a thick training manual. Just set up a really good buddy system. Make the buddy responsible for never leaving a new worker’s side—especially in the first 30 days when most of the injuries occur.”
If the MOL arrives at your door, will you be ready?
OT is a critical component of your health and safety program that MOL inspectors will be looking for during the blitz. You’ll need to demonstrate that your young and new workers are properly trained, supervised and meet minimum age requirements. The MOL suggests employers ask themselves five questions to get ready:
MOL zeroing in on the service sector
The service sector is a magnet for young workers, especially during summer months. Inspectors will be honing in on a wide range of workplaces where new and young workers can be found; for example:
Lost-time injuries hurt more than people
For more information
Check out these resources for insights and answers:
The Ontario Service Safety Alliance (OSSA) is your WSIB-approved provider of health and safety solutions, and your trusted advisor in developing a prevention program for your organization that will help keep new and young workers healthy and safe. Call OSSA at 1-888-478-6772 or email info@ossa.com.
That you should avoid lifting objects near the floor or above your shoulders.