Workplace Safety: Life with Young and New Workers

1. Workplace Safety:
Life with Young and New Workers
May 6, 2016
Cape Breton Partnership Safety Symposium

2. • Influencing factors - risk for injury
• Conditions – allowing and promoting safety
• Action – clear and simple
• Resources and references

3. Influencing factors: risk for injury
• New job “ jitters ”, eager to please and impress
• Competing factors (personal, school, other jobs, etc.)
• Differences of gender, age and life/work experience
• Dealing with workplace power structures
• Assumptions held by young workers
• Assumptions held by adult co-workers/supervisors

4. Conditions that promote health and safety
• Establish clear safety responsibilities and
expectations for everyone. Do supervisors
clearly understand roles?
• Don’t wait for young workers to come to you.
Go to them for input to safety operations.
Expect, seek and support their involvement.
• Have an orientation buddy system, and use
mentors for the first few months. Make
training regular and hands-on.
• If you say you’re going to do something, do it.
If you can’t, explain why not. Know that your
answer will be examined

5. Conditions that allow health and safety
• Respect: make sure it’s signaled and shown
for workers. They’ll pay it forward.
• Ensure safety reports, concerns and
suggestions are never trivialized.
• Be aware that age, life experiences,
economics, gender, identity, culture
and race influence how occupational
risk and hazards are experienced
and dealt with.
• Examine your health and safety
measures through the diversity lens.
What could change?

6. Action? Clear and simple.
• Sincere, authentic and respectful in your dealings
• Fair and consistent in application and enforcement of
formal and informal rules/measures.
• Set and clearly communicate expectations and boundaries.
• Explicit vs. assumptive in your manner and practice
• Be flexible and open.
Accept – even seek - difference.
It can be the edge and strength
of any business.
• Ask.
• Listen.

7. WCB Nova Scotia www.worksafeforlife.ca
WCB Nova Scotia www.wcb.ns.ca
Workplace Safety Strategy
Small Business Safety Toolkit
Small Business Safety Toolkit Cost Calculator
OHS Education & Outreach Dept., NS Labour & Advanced Education
www.novascotia.ca/lae/healthandsafety
Canadian Centre Occ. Health & Safety: Nova Scotia Training Page
http://www.ccohs.ca/catalog/courses_list_nova.php
Resources

8. References
Breslin, C., et al, “Workplace Injury or ‘part of the job’?: Toward a gendered understanding of injuries and complaints among
young workers”, Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 64, 2007, pp. 782-793
Breslin, Curtis F. (2007.) Educational Status and Work Injury Among Young People. Canadian Journal of Public Health.
Vol.99, No. 2 (pp.121-124)
Chin, P. et al, “Enabling youth to advocate for workplace safety”, Safety Science, Vol. 48, 2010, pp. 570-579
Dimitrov, N. (2008) Navigating Supervision Across Cultures. University Affairs. http://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-
advice/career-advice-article/navigating-supervision-across-cultures/ (05-15-15)
Fantino, A.M. (2006) Cultures at Work: Intercultural Communication in the Canadian Workplace. The Muttart Foundation
Fellowships. www.muttart.org
Kelloway, K., Yue, A., & Hessian, S., “Speaking of Safety: Young Workers’ Experiences”, Workers’ Compensation Board of
Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia, 2008
LaMontage, AD. et al. (2009.) Unwanted sexual advances at work: Variations by employment arrangement in a sample of
working Australians. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. Vol. 33, No. 2 (pp 173-179) As cited at by
Institute For Work and Health http://www.iwh.on.ca/highlights/unstable-work-increases-risk-of-unwanted-sexual-
advanceswww.iwh.on.ca (06-01-2015)
Loughlin C. & Frone M., “Young Workers’ Occupational Safety”, The Psychology of Workplace Safety, American
Psychological Association, Washington D.C, 2003, pp. 107-125
Images
LittleFouFou-Pingram_CC Flickr_April 29 2013.
StudentsWithDisabilitiesWorking_CCFlickr_12-2015
GirlTexting_CCFlickr_April 28, 2013
Stock Imagery - Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia
Tracey Leary
Education Consultant, WCBNS
tracey.leary@wcb.gov.ns.ca
902-491-8111