Toronto • May 28-29, 2010 • Student Day and Workshops: May 27
Paper: Bridging the safety gap for vulnerable young workers using youth employment centres
Download Presentation PDF:
Session : 1. Protecting vulnerable workers (1/2)
Day/Time: Friday at 10:30
Room: Ballroom, 2nd Floor
Objectives:
People aged 16 to 24 years who are out of school are at a particularly elevated risk of work injury. A recent Ontario Ministry of Labour action group made recommendations to improve safety preparation and reduce work injuries in this “high risk” subgroup of young workers. Many of these “high risk” youth use services such as youth employment centres. Our aim was to characterize their occupational injury experience, workplace training, and safety knowledge.
Methods:
Participants: Youth recruited through the employment centres met the following criteria:
- 16 to 24 years of age
- have worked at a job at any time in the past 12 months
Recruitment: To recruit participants, staff at youth employment centres across Ontario asked young people who were currently using the centre and who met the inclusion criteria whether they would be interested in participating in a 20-minute survey regarding work and safety. For those who expressed interest, the staff provided informed consent, and the participant completed the internet-based survey. Participants were given $10 for their time.
Measures: The survey collected information in the following domains:
- demographics (e.g., age, gender)
- characteristics of main job in past 12 months (e.g., industry, hours worked)
- work injury occurrence and nature of injury
- unsafe work conditions encountered
- nature of safety training
- extent of safety knowledge
Results:
The key findings were as follows:
- 1886 people completed the survey
- Among young people aged 16 to 24 years using youth employment centres, the rate of reporting a medically attended work injury is 14.45 per 100 FTEs.
- This subgroup of workers is exposed to unsafe work conditions such as dust/particles, trip hazards and heavy lifting.
- This subgroup of workers do not always receive workplace-specific training, and when they do, it is often video-based.
- This subgroup of workers demonstrated knowledge of basic work safety, but had difficulty with more complex safety issues.
Conclusions:
Recommendations flowing from these findings are as follows:
- Workplace parties should place a priority on reducing unsafe work conditions such as trip/fall hazards, dust/air particles and heavy lifting.
- Employers should provide orientation and training in ways that maximize information and skill acquisition/retention about health and safety. Options may include closer supervision and one-to-one training on the job.
- Even though school-based and social marketing efforts have successfully disseminated some basic OHS knowledge to many vulnerable young workers, strengthening workplace-specific training is needed.
- Additional information on vulnerable young workers is required to tailor interventions appropriate for this group.
