Law & Rights
Young workers and OHS
Statistics in Victoria and elsewhere in Australia and the world are stark and clear. Young workers between the ages of 15 and 25 are being hurt or killed on the job every day. Young workers lack experience and are generally unfamiliar with workplace procedures. Too often they don't know what their rights are, are too frightened to speak up and are less likely to belong to a union.
More information on young people and OHS:
From WorkSafe Victoria:
- New Safety Information Topic webpage Young Workers
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An Alert: Work experience students must not be given dangerous jobs - advising on what sorts of tasks are appropriate for work experience students
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Keeping Children Safe in the Workplace Children in Victoria under the age of 15 may be employed in Victorian workplaces under the Child Employment Act (CE Act) 2003. Due to their age, stage of physical and emotional development and their inexperience, children are the most vulnerable employees in Victorian workplaces. This 15 page publication has been developed to assist those in workplaces where children work or visit, to identify hazards and implement safety controls to prevent injuries
From other Australian jurisdictions:
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From NSW WorkCover: Information for Young Workers. From this page you can access a number of interactive websites (including industry specific ones such as hospitality, etc, leaflets, guidance and factsheets
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From Western Australia:
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WorkSafe Smart Move - a safety and health resource package for high school students going on work experience and work placements. There are resources for students and teachers.
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Children in the workplace - a bulletin how to conduct a risk management process to eliminate or reduce risks to children in the workplace.
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From Queensland: Code of Practice Children and Young Workers (2006) This code assists employers in managing the specific workplace health and safety risks associated with having children and young workers in the workplace. It identifies a number of hazards that can pose particular risks to young workers when compared with more experienced workers, including manual tasks, noise, chemicals, workplace violence, workplace harassment, industrial equipment and machinery. It also emphasises the importance of training and induction programs for young workers and highlights specific needs for employers.
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From the ASCC: a guide Getting Students to Work...Safely [pdf] – which outlines six key principles for teaching health and safety to students preparing to enter the workplace. The guiding principles are aimed at educators and education policy makers; it also provides references for educators to relevant resources in each state and territory.
From Unions:
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From the ACTU Worksite for Schools - information on rights for young people.
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Youth Website for young people by young people
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From South Australia, U-Who is a network of young people dedicated to improving the rights and conditions of young workers by assisting them to join and actively participate in unions.
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From the NSW Labor Council, YouthSafe was established in response to the ongoing statistical evidence showing a high incidence of accidents involving young people at work. The site includes various information case studies. There are also training resources, mainly aimed at teachers and students
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The RMIT University has an information website for its students: Your Work Your Rights
From overseas:
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from the UK’s Trades Union Congress
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Apprenticeships: A short guide for union safety representatives. The guide advises OHS reps on how to ensure that employers provide apprentices and other trainees with a safe and healthy working environment and adequate support and training. It includes information on the role of OHS reps and delivering apprentice safety programs. In the UK most of the fatalities involving apprentices were avoidable and in many cases there was inadequate supervision and a lack of risk assessment.
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Too Young to Die - a special Hazards magazine report that includes a number of tragic case studies ranging from a 17 year old boy who fell to his death from unsafe scaffolding to teenagers suffering serious burns and amputations in workplace accidents that could have been avoided. The report also sets out the legal protections that employers, young workers and their parents should be aware of.
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Young workers - a guide for safety representatives [ pdf], so reps can help protect any young workers in the workplace. A checklist recommends action including: Encouraging young workers and trainees to join the union; making young workers a standing item on the safety committee agenda; ensuring young workers have the extra legal protection afforded by the law; checking there is adequate supervision; making sure young workers have the necessary induction and ongoing safety training; and making sure safety reps are consulted on issues related to the recruitment and employment of young workers.
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From the UK teachers' union, NUT a checklist for teachers Managing Health and Safety on work experience.
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From the UK safety professionals' organisation IOSH online Wiseup2work resources which it hopes employers will use as part of induction or work experience preparation.
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The UK's HSE, the government authority on OHS, has a new website: Young people's health and safety at work- It explores the key issues to take into account when assessing the risks to young people at work.
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From Canada
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JobSafeCanada - a 'gateway' to health and safety for new workers. This site includes Real Stories of young people who have suffered horrific injuries.
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Young Worker Information - from WorkSafe British Colombia, this site has resources for young workers, parents, employers, supervisors, unions, educators, youth and comminity groups, and speakers. It includes video clips for download and examples of accidents to young workers.
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Also from WorkSafeBC the Demand Safety campaign - a ‘graphic and shocking’ campaign aimed at young people just starting work. Graphic material includes pictures and videos of true stories, such as John, who ‘is still haunted by his screams of pain from the forklift accident that left his back broken and his body paralysed’. The campaign page also has a series of fact sheets on knowing their rights, how to speak up and what safety questions to ask their new boss.
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From the US: Teen summer jobs: Safety pays Various resources for students etc. who have taken a summer job. Includes construction, farm, gardening, catering and life guard work.
More resources, from many different countries, can be accessed through a website of resource and links from the European Agency on Health and Safety at Work Young People The Agency, which is dedicating 2006 to young people and OHS, has produced a number of factsheets:
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Number 64 - Protection for young people in the workplace
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Number 63 - Young worker safety – advice for parents
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Number 62 - Young worker safety – advice for supervisors
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Number 61 - Young worker safety - advice for employers
The Agency’s latest magazine,
Safe Start, includes articles describing experiences of those who have been working to keep young employees safe, 'mainstreaming' OHS issues in schools education and vocational training, and more.
Also check out the
10 minute animation (and the universal language of Napo):
Safe Start
- ideal for a young audience and for all new entrants to the labour market, including migrant and temporary workers. The role of Napo and his friends is to provide an appetiser to OHS through their engaging characters, amusing story lines, humour and light-hearted approach. “Safety with a smile” is Napo’s contribution to safer, healthier and better workplaces.