October 1, 2008

VINCE VERSACE

Maureen Shaw, president and CEO of IAPA, launches the organization’s Young Worker Safety Awareness Campaign in Markham.

Industrial Accident Prevention Association

IAPA launches Young Worker Safety Awareness Campaign

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

Reducing workplace injuries and deaths of young workers requires partnerships among various sectors of any industry, says the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA).

“Health and safety is a right and responsibility,” said Maureen Shaw, president and CEO of IAPA. A workplace injury or death “affects a whole community and it will take a whole community to solve that problem.”

IAPA launched its Young Worker Safety Awareness Campaign at Steelcase Canada in Markham earlier this week. The campaign aims to raise awareness of young worker safety and the availability of young-worker health and safety resources that can reduce injury and fatalities.

October is Healthy Workplace Month and the IAPA launch included representatives from the provincial labour ministry, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), Steelcase officials and Jessica DiSabatino of Our Youth at Work. DiSabatino is the sister of David Ellis, a young worker who lost his life during his second day at work at an industrial bakery in 1999.

“If my brother was here today, he would say not to have a boohoo party,” said DiSabatino, vice-president and spokesperson for Our Youth at Work. “He would say let’s make some change.”

DiSabatino said the keys to reducing workplace injuries and deaths of young workers are to empower and provide them with the knowledge that they are entitled to a safe workplace.

This type of knowledge “will get them to ask questions” about their work environment and rights.

Programs like the IAPA campaign and partnerships between government, industry and advocacy groups will set the necessary foundation for future safe workplaces for young people, said DiSabatino.

“I am convinced that the next generation will lead the way and we have to help them,” she said.

“Innovation is what this is all about.”

The rate of injuries to young workers between the ages of 15 and 24 is staggering, said Shaw. In 2006, WSIB statistics reveal that 11,382 young workers between 15 and 24 years of age were injured to the extent that they could not work for at least one day. Also, 10 young workers in this age class were killed on the job.

In the first four weeks on the job, young workers are over five times more likely to be injured while at work, the Institute for Work and Health reports. Because of this statistic, IAPA has developed an orientation and training kit called First 4 Weeks that assists both young workers and supervisors in improving health and safety.

Visit www.iapa.ca for more information on the IAPA campaign or for resources on how to improve young worker safety and training.

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