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Young workers need more training, orientation, and supervision
Young worker safety resources
- Cascade Aerospace profile (PDF 32kb)
- J.D. Sweid profile (PDF 38kb)
- Johnston Packers Ltd. profile (PDF31kb)
- Construction fact sheet (PDF 300kb)
- Forestry fact sheet (PDF 300kb)
- Hospitality fact sheet (PDF 300kb)
- Manufacturing fact sheet (PDF 310kb)
- Retail fact sheet (PDF 300kb)
- Loren and Tracy Bergman profile (PDF 37kb)
- B.C. regional notice of incidents involving young workers (PDF 92kb)
- Young worker claim hierarchy tree - Fraser Valley (PDF 39kb)
- Young worker provincial overview 2004 (PDF 83kb)
- Young worker backgrounder (PDF 59kb)
- Preventing violence, robbery, and theft (PDF1mb)
- Violence in the workplace
Richmond, B.C., May 31, 2006 — As part of a provincial initiative WorkSafeBC has joined with more than twenty employer partners to raise public awareness about young worker safety at work. Today’s breakfast at the Coast Hotel & Convention Centre brings together local employers, training providers, unions and other stakeholders to focus on the specific training, orientation and supervision that they need.
According to WorkSafeBC, in 2004, 2,089 claims were accepted from young workers (aged 15 – 24) in the Fraser Valley region; 11% of these as a result of working in restaurants. Other common industries where young workers are injured are supermarkets, general retail, distribution centre and framing or residential forming.
In 2005, 11 young B.C. workers died on the job, 151 were seriously injured and more than 9,000 were injured.
At this time of year, thousands of young workers aged 15-24 will enter a new workplace or start a job for the first time — and some of them will be seriously injured or permanently disabled.
“As a community, we all have a part to play in the safety of young workers”, said Vincent Russell, WorkSafeBC Director of Industry and Labour Services today to an audience of employers, industry and labour representatives, workers and community leaders. “New and young workers deserve our attention and we all should feel a sense of responsibility for their safety — particularly when they are in very vulnerable situations such as working alone.”
B.C.’s 310,000 young workers make up 14.9 per cent of the provincial labour force and thousands are expected to be added by 2010. B.C.’s labour force is increasing at the rate of 3.4 per-cent annually; but the young worker component is growing by 8.3 per-cent annually.
While the injury rate for young workers is more than twice that of the overall population, there has been a 33 per-cent reduction since 1995. While the injury rate has decreased significantly, the number of serious injuries has been trending upward in the past five years — from 114 in 2001 to 151 in 2005. In 2005 one — third of those serious injuries (including amputations, serious fractures and head or spine injuries) occurred in the manufacturing sector.
Bob Manning, Health & Safety Coordinator, Johnston Packers Ltd., a speaker at the breakfast, believes two-way communication is needed to keep young workers safe on the job. He says, “My job is to make young workers comfortable and trusting enough to ask any question any time about anything in the workplace.”
For the past three years Dayna Sykes, has been part of the Occupational Health and Safety Project with the BC Federation of Labour. She has spoken with over 20,000 high school students and says, “From what we have been hearing from students, there is no doubt that young workers are at risk and have little knowledge of their rights.”
Other companies who are participating in the launch are Cascade Aerospace who takes a bottom-up approach where everyone, including young workers, is part of an effort that makes front-line safety happen; and J.D. Sweid, who has a proven recipe for young worker safety, whether you are 17 or 47 years old.
A kit of young worker safety resources and the manual will be available to those attending the breakfast and will be available at www.worksafebc.com.
WorkSafeBC is an independent provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors that serves nearly two million workers and about 179,000 employers. WorkSafeBC was born out of a compromise between B.C.’s workers and employers in 1917 where workers gave up the right to sue their employers and fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. The organization is committed to safe and healthy workplaces and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits.
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For more information please contact: |
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Gladys Johnsen
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