Here in Oregon, as in many other places, we communicate and collaborate with those sharing our quest to improve workplace safety, health and wellness. In the case of O[yes] – the Oregon Young Employee Safety Coalition – we partner with a number of organizations committed to making a positive difference in the lives of young workers.
In June, David Grim, a MPH student in Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health at Oregon State University, led a group of volunteers to teach Youth @ Work: Talking Safety to 32 attendees at the annual 4-H Summer Conference located on the Oregon State University campus. This 90 minute class covered the topics of Finding Hazards and Making the Workplace Safer. The class was highly interactive, utilizing images of common workplaces settings and having students compete to Find the Hazard along with the $25,000 Safety Pyramid game where students competed to find the best solutions for hazards in scenarios. Students were asked to rate the class and they reported that they really enjoyed the materials, the interactive nature of the class, and would recommend the class in the future to their peers. The students also were noted in saying that the class was “Amazing” and “Really fun.” Read more about this class in a recent OSU article.
Last spring David joined OSU Assistant Professor Laurel Kincl, and other O[yes] members and partners in working with high school students attending Student Day at the 2013 Oregon Governor’s Safety and Health Conference.
Resources
O[yes] website
Youth@Work: Talking Safety
Youth@Work: Talking Safety Oregon
One response to “Partnering for Safety with Young Workers”
Fantastic work! More organizations should establish young employee safety groups. Young employees may be new to an industry or may have a different learning style than their older peers. It is good that there are programs to assist the young workforce in safety training to give them a solid foundation in workplace safety that they can build over time.