In 2007, six young British Columbia workers (aged 15 – 24) died while working as a deck hand, a quarry truck driver, a diamond driller, a labourer, a mill worker and a diver. These tragic deaths were a part of more than 11,000 young worker injury claims WorkSafeBC accepted in 2007. “Young workers are highly vulnerable because of their inexperience,” said Betty Pirs, WorkSafeBC’s executive director of Prevention Services. “Each working day in 2007, 46 young workers were injured and it’s our responsibility as parents, employers, educators and co-workers to ensure that they are safe on the job – now and into the future.”
Pirs was speaking at a young worker safety event at Vancouver’s Roundhouse Community Centre where she introduced a new safety video, Young and New Workers – They’re Worth Your Attention, that focuses on 13 employers throughout B.C. who share their success stories when orienting, training and supervising young workers. The video, funded by Service Canada, is a partnership between the BC Human Resources Management Association and WorkSafeBC. It features companies in B.C.’s high risk industries -- construction, manufacturing, forestry, hospitality, retail and transportation.
“We provide a three-week orientation training program for all of our new workers and one of the most important aspects of the training is safety,” said Roger Lussier, operations manager with Harris Rebar – a steel reinforcing firm featured in the video. “We provide our first-year workers with bright coloured hard hats so everyone knows to take an extra look and ensure they are being safe.”
Between 2002 and 2006, WorkSafeBC accepted more than 47,000 time loss claims from young workers. The regional percentage breakdown of claims was:
- Fraser Valley - 31%
- Greater Vancouver - 30%
- Vancouver Island - 17%
- Interior - 11%
- Prince George and the North - 6%
- Kamloops - 5%
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