Press Release

Helping young people stay safe at work

Monday, June 30 2008

Today, pupils from Kelmscott School in Walthamstow celebrated their success in achieving the Entry Level Award in Workplace Hazard Awareness, a new nationally recognised qualification aimed at raising young people’s awareness of health and safety hazards before they embark on work experience or their first job.

The pupils were presented with their certificates by Lord McKenzie of Luton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Lords), who visited the school this afternoon. Speaking at the ceremony Lord McKenzie, who is responsible for Health and Safety issues, said: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in such a worthy initiative. Anything that raises their awareness in this area has to be a big step forward. It is important that young people recognise the risks that might be associated with their work or profession and learn to manage them."

This summer, the British Safety Council is launching a new campaign to warn all parents, carers and teachers, as well as employers, to make sure young workers are aware of the dangers that they could face in their summer jobs. The charity is encouraging everyone to take up their responsibility to check that the next generation of young workers is being treated fairly at work to stop the unacceptable number of young people injured.

Between 2004/05 and 2006/07 an unbelievable 10,686 under 19s suffered injuries at work and worst of all 11 died. That is an unacceptable 223 teenagers who are injured at work every week 

Young workers embarking this summer on their first or part time jobs need training to understand the dangers they could face before they start work and to help them stay safe. The BSC is campaigning to give young people the confidence to speak up at work if they are unsure about something they are being asked to do. To help the charity is launching the ‘Top Ten Tips’ for summer safety, put together in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive. 

Accidents and deaths are not occurring because young people are being silly or taking stupid risks. These young people are inexperienced and lack training. Added to this is the shocking statistic from a survey that the BSC carried out this year that half of employers questioned had not offered any health and safety training to staff and two out of three workers (62%) also said they had been given little or no training. Health and safety suffers from a bad reputation, with most workers subscribing to the 'it won’t happen to me' theory. Unfortunately, as the figures show, it could happen to you.

The launch of the top tips adds to the campaign that the BSC is pioneering to get children educated at school about the dangers of the workplace. The charity is currently funding the assessment of 14 -19 year olds in the UK to help them gain the Entry Level Award in Workplace Hazard Awareness. To date 1,200 schools and 70,000 students have signed up to the qualification.

"The phenomenal uptake of the qualification is proof of the need for such training in our schools and a clear sign of the importance that head teachers place on ensuring the health and safety of their students who will be entering the workplace." adds Brian Nimick.

Mr Nimick continues: "The qualification not only helps keep young people safe at a particularly vulnerable time, but also reinforces the government’s aim to provide personalised learning for every child.  For the thousands of children who are not going on to university, a qualification that can prove to a potential employer that they have common sense, motivation and a sense of pride in what they do, and inevitably will make them more employable."

Robert Haywood, 18 at the time of the incident, was involved in work to lay concrete flooring at Wembley National Stadium using a screed pump, a machine that first mixes the cement and then under high pressure pumps the cement through a pipe to the area being worked on.
 
On his fourth day at work on the site, a safety grill, designed to prevent access to the mixing paddles inside the machine, had been removed and a safety interlock switch had been overridden. Whilst emptying a bag of cement into the mixing chamber of the pump the young employee’s left hand was dragged into the machine. Three of his fingers were crushed requiring partial amputation down to his first knuckle. Robert was not being careless, he was just inexperienced and unlucky.

The qualification is supported by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) with free online learning materials.

To get a copy of the top ten tips visit, www.britsafe.org