HEALTH & SAFETY

MODEL YOUNG WORKER ORIENTATION CHECKLIST

BENEFITS

This time of year, many companies are adding “young workers” 25 and under to their staffs. Although BC is currently the only jurisdiction that specifically requires employers to provide special safety training for young workers in its OHS laws, such training is strongly recommended in other jurisdictions for several reasons.

• First, it’s estimated that young workers are 5 times more likely to get injured in the first 4 weeks on the job than their more senior co-workers;
• Second, even jurisdictions that don’t specifically require young worker training recognize that these workers are vulnerable and need special protection. For example, Ontario is launching a young worker safety inspection blitz in May 2012.

Adapt this model checklist for your workplace and the OHS laws in your jurisdiction. Use it to ensure that your young worker safety orientation covers all the bases. When a worker has been trained on a given topic, both the worker and the trainer should check off that topic on the form. There’s also space for any comments. Keep the completed checklists in case you need to demonstrate that you provided an adequate safety orientation to a young worker.