Member Article

?Don't let your first job be your last? - TUC

Every 40 minutes a 16-24 year old is seriously injured at work, and one is killed every month due to employer negligence, according to a trade union health and safety magazine. Despite stricter health and safety rules for the youngest workers, 16-24 year olds are at risk because their employers fail to take account of their lack of workplace experience and training, the report in Hazards Magazine says. In response the TUC has launched an awareness raising campaign. The ‘don’t make this your last summer - work safe’ campaign has won the backing of the Local Government Association (LGA) with councils across the country now taking measures to ensure young people are employed safely including spot-checks on employers and local awareness campaigns. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “Summer jobs are a great way for young people to gain some extra cash and important work and life experience. But they are not worth dying for. “No young person should die or be seriously injured this summer because their employer failed to take simple steps to ensure their safety. And no young person’s first job should be their last.” Hazards editor Rory O’Neill added: “It’s a myth that young workers are killed or injured because they goof around or because they are immature. They are at risk because they are inexperienced. The newer you are to the job, regardless of your age, the higher the risk.” ‘Too young to die’ features a case study dossier of the preventable work deaths of 10 young people and 5 serious injuries that could have been avoided. Detailed summaries at: www.hazards.org/youngworkers/#dossier.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .