July 23, 2007

Workplace Safety

Dropouts suffer jobsite injuries more often

Study looks at injury rates for young workers

TORONTO

High-school dropouts are four times more likely than other workers to be injured on the job and the government needs to help before more lives are lost doing low-wage work, suggests a new report released by Ontario’s Labour Ministry.

About eight per cent of high-school dropouts are hurt while working, compared to the annual injury rate of about two per cent of all employees who work for companies covered by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, said Cameron Mustard, president and senior scientist for the Institute for Work and Health.

“Most employers aren’t intentionally putting their workers in dangerous positions, but accidents do happen, and young people who didn’t finish high school seem to be the most vulnerable when it comes to not recognizing risks,” Mustard said.

“The challenge here is to both increase the awareness of young people that work is dangerous, and raising awareness on the part of employers that young workers are at greater risk of an injury.”

The report also notes the construction sector has had a 71 per cent increase in lost-time injuries among workers 18 and younger, a 40 per cent increase among 19-year-olds, and a 50 per cent increase for workers between the ages of 20 to 24.

It’s no surprise young, low-paid workers are doing dangerous work, but it’s shameful that more and more kids have to die before changes are made, said Safe Communities Canada founder Paul Kells, whose 19-year-old son Sean was killed at work in 1994.

“We know so much more now about how vulnerable these young guys are, we’ve got the stats to prove it, so when is the employer community, or society as a whole, going to say we have a special responsibility to make sure any kid going to work (is safe)?”

Sean Kells was working just his third day at a part-time job when he was asked to pour a highly flammable chemical from one drum into another, without being told of the dangers of the task. The chemical ignited and exploded, killing him.

Ontario is the safest province when it comes to rates of workplace injuries among young people but there’s more that can be done, Kells said. Last year, 10 young Ontario workers were killed on the job.

Kells said the school system has come a long way in integrating health and safety lessons into the curriculum, which has probably prevented countless injuries.

High-school students taking chemistry learn about the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, law students read up on the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and even Grade 7 and Grade 8 students are beginning to learn about workplace safety.

Labour Minister Steve Peters said the challenge now is to reach young people outside the school system so they can identify risky situations and avoid being injured or killed.

“What we’re trying to do is make sure young workers understand what their rights are and they don’t in any way shy away from those rights, that they should not feel in any way vulnerable or intimidated in a workplace,” Peters said.

“Young workers need to make sure they arm themselves with the knowledge that they do have that right to say no to unsafe work.”

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s edgy “Prevent It” cartoon advertising campaign hopes to hit those workers, as well as all young people who do dangerous work.

One ad features a bloody severed ear with earphones sticking out and the slogan, “Why prevent workplace injuries? Because your tunes will definitely sound better!”

Some parents have been upset with the graphic cartoon violence, but that suits chairman Steve Mahoney just fine.

“I guess if there wasn’t some controversy around our campaign then it wouldn’t be worth doing,” he said.

Parents were never meant to “get” the campaign, Mahoney said, but young people have been responding positively and admitting they never gave much thought to workplace safety.

“The whole principle of our campaign was designed to be peer-to-peer, so it’s young people talking to young people instead of ‘the man,’ if you will, lecturing them on being safe.”

Canadian Press

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