Thank you . I am so very pleased to join you morning - to share with you what we are doing in British Columbia to help reduce the risk for young workers, particularly as it applies to our recent initiatives in education and training. I am also looking forward to hearing from Silvy, Tyler, and Len; about their experiences on what has worked best for them, and about the challenges they anticipate facing over the next few years. I expect that we will find much in common. And I do hope we will here from the young people in our audience today. Because of course, your perspective is the most important of all.

Overview

Let me start with a quick profile of the situation in British Columbia, starting with a few numbers.

We have over a quarter of a million young workers between the ages of 15 and 24. Every working day 44 are injured on the job. Five are permanently injured every week. Last year, nine young workers died in workplace accidents. The rate of injury, measured in short-term disability claims per 100 person years remains alarmingly high for young males. Although substantially reduced from a decade ago, last year the injury rate for young men (6.2) was 51% higher than the overall provincial rate (4.1),

Most of these young people are single, with high school education and some with post-secondary schooling. They have low to moderate income and many live with their parents. A large percentage work in service, sales, and hospitality. Not what they consider as accident-prone sectors. They mistakenly believe that the danger lies in so called high-risk jobs such as forestry, mining, and construction.

When the fact of the matter is that in the 15 to 19 age group most injuries are in the hospitality and retail sectors. From overexertion, slipping, being struck by objects, incorrect lifting, and other such commonplace causes.

Having said that, it is clear that working in some industries result in more injuries for young workers. Construction, forestry, and manufacturing certainly. Young males are much more likely than young females to be employed in these occupations. And when it comes to gender and accidents, young males in B.C. get hurt 50% more often than workers of any other age group. Regardless of industry.

As many of you here today will likely agree - young peoples' priorities don't always mirror ours. They are preoccupied with big dreams as they taste freedom, and have some money in their pockets. Workplace safety is not usually at the forefront of their thinking.

By definition they lack experience. And so for many, their first job is their most dangerous job. In our province, they are over 50% more likely to get injured within their first six months on the job. That's because they haven't had time to learn of the dangers. They are not familiar with their work surroundings. And many just don't realize the workplace can be hazardous.

Lack of experience also means that they need formal safety training. Training they are often afraid to ask for. They may even be nervous about asking the simplest of questions. As a result they aren't very good at recognizing potential hazards.

And all this makes for an accident waiting to happen.

 Last spring we undertook some substantive research with youth and key stakeholders to determine their attitudes towards youth safety and health at the worksite. The research consisted of a series of nine focus groups, followed by two surveys of young workers.

The research was also undertaken to explore the level of concern about workplace injury, determine more precisely the reasons young workers are more likely to face injury and to uncover some suggestions for ways to resolve - or at least reduce - the problem.

The research confirmed much of what we knew intuitively:

• That youth - and their parents - identify drugs, stress, drinking and driving as being of far greater risk than dangerous work habits.

• That young workers have a sense of invincibility, an unwillingness to question authority and a tendency to take on high risk tasks without proper instruction.

• That safety is someone else's problem, and not something young workers themselves could address.

• That young workers were not aware of their rights concerning workplace health and safety.

The numbers tell us something of the scope of the problem. Attitudes and behaviours that are unique to young workers give us a profile of this segment of the workforce. So the question is, what are the best strategies to bring down the numbers, and improve - if that's the word - the situation?

WCB Initiatives

I'll start with our Board's initiatives in the schools.

Prior to 1985 we had limited contact with the school system with our field officers doing occasional presentations to high school and trade school students. They were usually of the blood and guts variety of presentation with the message being "Watch out for yourself!". In the late 80s our Education section began to develop more sophisticated teaching tools and materials and in the early 90s we developed a standard 50 minute presentation for Field Officers to deliver to grade 11 and 12 students.

It was really in the last half of the 90s that we moved into high gear. Between 1996 and 1999 we developed a comprehensive Student WorkSafe package in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. The intent of Student WorkSafe is to raise young people's awareness of occupational hazards and safe work practices before they begin their careers. These materials are integrated into the Career and Personal Planning classes throughout the education system in B.C. We started with grades 10 through 12 and provided training for teachers throughout the province. In 1998, we completed and implemented age-related curricula for students in kindergarten through grade 9.

Part of our delivery of the program has been inservicing teachers so that they could teach their respective grade level of Student WorkSafe, and in 1999 alone, 2,400 teachers received such training.

Does WorkSafe Work?

The key question to such efforts of course, is - do they work? We know the teachers like the program. It is a user-friendly hands-on resource at their fingertips. It has even won awards from the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering. BUT, does the program reduce accidents? Well, cause and effect are always very hard to establish in this game. What I can tell you is that between 1993 and 1999 there has been a 33% decrease in the young worker injury rate in B.C., roughly corresponding to the time frame we have put WorkSafe and other young worker initiatives into play.

Initiatives and Challenges for the Future

As we look to the future we plan to continue with our outreach to the school system. We face particular challenges as we look at the demographics of an aging baby boom population of teachers. Estimates are that over the next decade, we will lose about half our teachers to retirement, resulting in a huge turnover. The problem for us is that we can't inservice teachers fast enough to keep pace with the retirement rate.

There is another challenge we must consider. Teachers are already on overload with demands coming at them from all directions. And despite our best inservice training, they cannot become experts on health and safety. It is very difficult for them to answer questions that might arise outside of the material we give them.

In addition, the inservicing process is very labour intensive, and expensive to maintain. As are the materials we produce in the form of thousands of videos and binders going to all the schools.

There is a fourth factor. That is the motivation on the part of the students to become engaged with the topic of safety and health, when it is presented as just another part of their curriculum.

To meet these challenges we are taking a second look at our inservicing program and plan take advantage of technology by providing teachers with a computer-based WorkSafe training certificate program through a partnership with the Ministry of Education. Our intention is to have that program ready for grades 10-12 next year.

We anticipate three motivations will drive the program. Employers will be motivated to hire people who have a certificate that indicates they have some basic health and safety knowledge as part of their skill set. The students will be motivated to take the course because it will enhance their employment possibilities since they will now have a certificate to add to their resumes. And the teacher will be motivated to encourage students to log on to the program so it will free up their time.

The longer-term plan is to provide this core program to industry, community and labour groups through partnership arrangements. Using the school version as a base, the program will be modified to include sections on a sector basis, so that modules specific to certain industries will be added. For example, we will have a module geared to the hospitality sector, another to construction, and so on.

In addition we are going to be developing a young worker resource centre on our WEB site where there will be student WorkSafe programs and industry specific safety information which young workers, employers and others can access at the touch of a button. We plan on it being very interactive so that it will show what safe behaviour looks like, and not just tell.

One thing that came out of our young worker focus groups in the Spring - loud and clear - was that from their perspective, hearing the voice and experience of their peer groups was the most effective form of communication.

We have become strong advocates of peer to peer awareness training programs. That's why we have a young worker, Mel Camilli, go into the schools and talk directly to young people. He is a very impressive young man, as those of you who heard his talk at yesterday's luncheon found out. So successful has been this sort of outreach that we have expanded this program to industry, labour and community groups.

Because he is not much older than the students he talks to, they see him as a contemporary. And when he wheels his way on to the stage and starts his story - he has their complete attention. He has made well over 100 presentations throughout the province reaching over 20,000 people.

The peer to peer work has proven so valuable that we will plan to build on our success with Mel by adding other injured young workers to our roster of speakers.

Our own officers will also be going back into the schools next year. They'll talk about what goes on in the workplace with very hands on, very real-life presentations. Just as important, they also talk about workers' rights to a safe workplace, including the right to refuse to do dangerous work. And of course they also talk about workers' responsibilities.

We haven't forgotten the trade schools. For them we are producing a Grade 12 Safety Survival Course whereby secondary school trades teachers can provide their construction trades students with targeted information relating directly to their student's chosen career path.

We will also be collaborating with Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, the provincial agency which licenses and insures B.C. drivers. As you can imagine, they are as interested as we are at the Board at understanding the motivations that underlie the high risk behaviour of some young people. A part of their ongoing research program is in the area of the psychology of risk and risk taking by young drivers. We will build on that research through our partnership in this vital area of research. Greater understanding of risk taking will form the design of future communication campaigns and educational strategies.

On other fronts, we will be establishing a Youth Worker Advisory Committee with external representatives from various stakeholder groups. And we are seeking opportunities to do advocacy work with youth organizations whose primary mandate may not be workplace safety, but may well be willing partners in spreading the word about health and safety at the worksite for their members.

Conclusion

I believe it is the combination of these efforts that will result in a variety of payoffs, all of which will result in few injuries and fatalities among young workers.

Young workers who are well-schooled in matters of safety and health soon become older, experienced workers. Workers who will watch out for their younger comrades following in their footsteps. Workers who might well run their own businesses some day and for whom health and safety has become as natural as the air they breathe.

I am old enough to remember when seat belts in cars were options, smoking was glamorous, and drinking and driving were rites of passage for young people. We have seen how over the last few decades, through comprehensive education in the schools and through media messages, that attitudes and behaviours can and do change. Almost everyone now buckles up. Smoking is on the way out. And most teenagers have finally seen the light when it comes to drinking and driving. It is no longer seen as cool behaviour.

I see no reason why we shouldn't anticipate a similar response on the part of young workers when it comes their health and safety on the job. The effort to penetrate their consciousness on this issue, in face of all the competing issues they have to deal with, will not be easy, or overnight. But it can be done. It must be done. I am sure none of us would be in this business if we didn't think it was doable.

We just have to keep at it. Thank you.