Expert Safety Panel Recommendations
February 12/2001
Links to Health and Safety websites
The Expert Safety Panel members are drawn from organizations that are industrial partners of The Learning Partnership, and from organizations with acknowledged expertise in workplace safety and education. As stakeholders with a clear understanding of the history, goals and practices of the Take Our Kids to Work program, we agreed to participate in this study because of our belief in the inherent value of the program, and we believe the program can and will be effectively strengthened as a result of this report.
Our meetings generated 14 main recommendations, which guided the following research and comprise the building blocks of this report.
Recommendation 1:
Continue to improve and enhance the Take Our Kids to Work program, with strengthened program elements relating to workplace health and safety.
Recommendation 2:
Develop clearer information on health and safety in all Take Our Kids to Work materials, for every program audience—parents, teachers, students and workplaces.
Recommendation 3:
Communicate the importance of health and safety through a variety of channels, to accommodate different learning styles.
Recommendation 4:
Enlist workplace health and safety experts to review the content and context of all materials produced for the Take Our Kids to Work program.
Recommendation 5:
Incorporate a safety theme into the program material during 2001, to coincide with Ontario’s implementation of “safety education” at the Grade 9 level, and enrich the program for subsequent years.
Recommendation 6:
Post links from The Learning Partnership’s website to organizations with workplace health and safety expertise and material.
Recommendation 7:
Use the opportunity provided by Occupational Health and Safety Week in May to communicate Take Our Kids to Work program health and safety messages.
Recommendation 8:
Develop informed consent forms that contain workplace health and safety messaging, signed by students and parents.
Recommendation 9:
Encourage all participants in the Take Our Kids to Work program to commit themselves to a safe day. Include on forms a section demonstrating that students have read and discussed materials on health and workplace safety before participating.
Recommendation 10:
Begin Take Our Kids to Work day at each employer with mandatory workplace orientations that focus on health and safety issues relevant to that environment. Workplaces should use the expertise of their Health and Safety personnel to assist with the orientation if possible. Where appropriate, there should also be a student Health and Safety representative for the day.
Recommendation 11:
Encourage program participants to adopt a zero tolerance policy for ignoring health and safety guidelines communicated in program material.
Recommendation 12:
Supervise student participants all day while they are at the workplace site. The student supervisor should be a competent individual and there should be a set ratio of the number of students to each supervisor that is appropriate for each workplace.
Recommendation 13:
Allow students to undertake only those tasks and experiences for which they have been properly oriented.
Recommendation 14:
Encourage workplaces to create an environment where students feel free—in fact, encouraged—to speak about health and safety concerns, ask questions, and comment on situations they observed during the day. Workplaces should conduct an annual inspection prior to Take Our Kids to Work day with a view to Youth workplace safety.
Health and Safety websites
Health Canada - www.hc-sc.gc.ca
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety - www.ccohs.ca
WorkSmart Ontario - www.worksmartontario.gov.on.ca
WorkSafe BC - www.worksafebc.com
WorkSafe Saskatchewan - www.worksafesask.ca
Jeunes au travail : La commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail du Québec - www.csst.qc.ca