The Government will be told at the Labour Party Conference that the time has come to put an end to teenager deaths and injuries at work.
IOSH technical director, Richard Jones, will be discussing the safety of young people at a fringe debate in the Gladstone Room at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester on Sunday. He’ll be joined by Lord McKenzie of Luton, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for the Lords; Mick Clapham MP, the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health; Stephen Alambritis, from the Federation of Small Businesses; and Barry Fawcett, from the NUT.
Mr Brown and other Labour Party conference delegates will be told by IOSH that too many employers are failing to induct or supervise young workers adequately. Employers are also failing to hear teenagers’ calls for help or training to enable them to do their job safely.
Richard said that in the last decade, 64 workers under the age of 19 have been killed in the workplace, and more than 15,000 seriously injured.
“This tragic loss of young lives, and the numbers suffering injuries like amputations, broken limbs and severe burns, shows that too many employers are failing to look after their teenage employees properly,” he remarked.
“All businesses should ensure their staff go through a thorough induction process, regardless of their age. But it’s particularly important that young workers are closely supervised by more experienced workers — not just left to ‘get on with the job’. Young workers are particularly vulnerable. We’re not talking about wrapping them up in cotton wool, but just leaving them to their own devices in the workplace is a recipe for disaster.”
Richard concluded: “We hope Gordon Brown and members of his government will hear our call and press ahead with the inclusion of training in health and safety for all young people before they leave school. The means is already there, in the form of the IOSH and HSE’s Workplace Hazard Awareness Course which is set to be taught in over 2000 schools and colleges nationwide. What we need now is the political will to make it happen.”
