Jean Lambert MEP has today called for more to be done to prevent young workers coming to harm when they first enter the workplace. The Green Euro MP for London, recently visited the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and heard about the high numbers of young people leaving school without any understanding of the dangers that exist in the workplace.
In the last decade, throughout the UK, 64 under 19s have been killed and more than 15,000 seriously hurt in accidents in workplaces. She was told about IOSH’s ‘Putting young workers first’ campaign, and the Workplace Hazard Awareness Course (WHAC), which IOSH produced in conjunction with the HSE which is designed for year 10 students and is available free to schools, colleges and trainers.
Jean Lambert MEP, who is a Member of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee, said:
"Young people are one of the most vulnerable groups of employees, due to a lack of awareness, training and experience. We must address this in order to stem the number of fatalities and injuries that they suffer as a result.
"’Putting young workers’ first’ is an important campaign and I support the action plan it promotes to address this lack of training. If we want to safeguard the next generation, our national and EU-level programmes must take the workplace issues faced by young people seriously."
Notes for Editors
IOSH is Europe’s leading body for health and safety professionals. We have 33,000 members worldwide, including more than 13,000 Chartered Safety and Health Practitioners. The Institution was founded in 1945 and is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that sets professional standards, supports and develops members and provides authoritative advice and guidance on health and safety issues. IOSH is formally recognised by the ILO as an international non-governmental organisation.
IOSH’s Putting young workers first campaign
Launched a six point plan for a safe start to work, which includes getting health and safety into teacher training, making health and safety education a mandatory part of every curriculum, better vetting of work experience placements, better supervision during work experience placements and tighter accident reporting involving young people Produced and promoted the free Workplace Hazard Awareness Course for schoolsCreated the award-winning Wiseup2work website (www.wiseup2work.co.uk to help teachers and employers prepare young people for working lifeIOSH met with over 50 MPs since launching the campaign to discuss support for the initiative The Workplace hazard awareness course (WHAC):
The Workplace Hazard Awareness Course has been developed by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). WHAC leads to the Entry Level Award in Workplace Hazard Awareness (Entry 3) offered by British Safety Council Awards. WHAC is freely available to teachers and trainers who offer free courses to young people – course materials can be downloaded from www.wiseup2work.co.uk/whacAims to provide Year 10 students with a basic understanding of health and safety in the workplace, so that they understand hazards, and what to expect of their employer Has more than 20 activities including an interactive presentation with film clips, teacher guide, workbook, evidence sheets and extension workTakes six to eight hours to deliver