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Orienting, training, and supervising young workers key to preventing injury
Richmond, B.C., May 14, 2008— In 2007, six young BC workers (aged 15 – 24) died while working as a deck hand, a quarry truck driver, a diamond driller, a labourer, a mill worker and a diver. These tragic deaths were a part of more than 11,000 young worker injury claims WorkSafeBC accepted in 2007.
“Young workers are highly vulnerable because of their inexperience,” said Betty Pirs, WorkSafeBC’s Executive Director of Prevention Services. “Each working day in 2007, 46 young workers were injured and it’s our responsibility as parents, employers, educators and co-workers to ensure that they are safe on the job – now and into the future.”
Pirs was speaking at a young worker safety event at Vancouver’s Roundhouse Community Centre where she introduced a new safety video, Young and New Workers – They’re Worth Your Attention, that focuses on 13 employers throughout B.C. who share their success stories when orienting, training and supervising young workers. The video, funded by Service Canada, is a partnership between the BC Human Resources Management Association and WorkSafeBC. It features companies in B.C.’s high risk industries -- construction, manufacturing, forestry, hospitality, retail and transportation.
“We provide a three-week orientation training program for all of our new workers and one of the most important aspects of the training is safety,” said Roger Lussier, Operations Manager with Harris Rebar – a steel reinforcing firm featured in the video. “We provide our first-year workers with bright coloured hard hats so everyone knows to take an extra look and ensure they are being safe.”
Between 2002 and 2006, WorkSafeBC accepted more than 47,000 time loss claims from young workers. The regional percentage breakdown of claims was:
- Fraser Valley - 31%
- Greater Vancouver - 30%
- Vancouver Island - 17%
- Interior - 11%
- Prince George and the North - 6%
- Kamloops - 5%
At the Roundhouse event, the winners of the provincial high school students’ workplace safety video contest were announced. First place in the Grade 11 & 12 video category went to NorKam Secondary in Kamloops and in the Grade 8 -10 video category, the top prize went to Sutherland Secondary in North Vancouver.
Washington Marine Group and London Drugs partnered with WorkSafeBC to sponsor the student video contest, which received 47 entries from high schools across the province. Washington Marine Group awarded $2,000 to the first prize school and $500 to the team in the Grade 11 & 12 category. London Drugs sponsored the Grade 10 first place category, providing $2000 to the winning school and $500 for the team. WorkSafeBC awarded $1,500 to the school and $500 for the student team winning second place in both categories.
Each employer segment in the safety video and winners of the student workplace safety contest are available at www.worksafebc.com and www.youtube.com. In addition, WorkSafeBC’s www.raiseyourhand.com website features an online community that allows young workers to share their thoughts and stories about workplace safety (more than 1,500 to date), while also learning about their rights and responsibilities when on the job.
Serving 2.3 million workers and about 197,000 employers, WorkSafeBC is a provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors and funded by employers. WorkSafeBC was born out of a compromise between BC's workers and employers in 1917 where workers gave up the right to sue their employers or fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. WorkSafeBC is committed to a safe and healthy workplace and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits to workers injured as a result of their employment.
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| Gladys Johnsen |
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