Young Persons at Work
A young person is seriously injured every 40 minutes in the UK and one young person is killed at work each month.
Organisations sometimes require young persons to carry out tasks where there is a risk of injuries. Young people are particularly vulnerable to accidents. Sometimes young workers make mistakes due to their relative inexperience, risk perception and possible lack of physical abilities. Frequently young people are hurt in their first few months at work. The effects of these accidents are particularly tragic. |
| Are you aware of your obligations to take particular care of this group of workers? The need to take special care of young persons is recognised in law and employers need to make sure that young persons are not asked to: |
- Carry out work which is beyond their physical capacity or that involves exposure to toxic or carcinogenic substances and harmful radiation.
- Do work where the risk of accidents which may arise due to their immaturity, lack of experience and training.
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| Risk assessments need to be carried out before a young person starts a task for the first time. RoSPA frequently finds that many organisations have not yet considered their management strategy, workplace hazards and have not developed effective measures to control their risks. Remember that what you consider safe for your regular workforce may not be safe for a younger employee. |
How can RoSPA Help?
Young Workers Risk Awareness - Training Course
| We can work with you to develop an in-company course to get young workers up to speed with the key health and safety issues that they will face in the workplace, including: |
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- The practical aspects of using Display Screen Equipment
- Basic steps for safer manual handling
- Fire and first aid requirements
- A practical hazard spotting exercise
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By enhancing the safety knowledge of your young workers you can go some way towards compensating for their lack of experience. This course will aim to help young workers gain the confidence to assume responsibility for the safety of themselves and their co-workers.
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Assuring the Safety of Young Persons at Work – Half-day Training Course
| We can work with you to develop training to meet the needs of those within your organisation who are responsible for managing young people at work: |
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An introduction to the reasons why organisations need to manage the health and safety of young employees, including case studies of accidents that have occurred and a review of jobs that should be restricted to older workers. |
- Risk assessing young people at work
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A guide to completing ‘suitable and sufficient’ risk assessments for young people at work. |
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An introduction to how the management of the human factors of young people at work has a vital role in the control of risk. |
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A review of the measures that need to be taken to supervise young people at work and the need to have competent supervisory staff. |
- Monitoring Your Control Measures
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Outlining the steps that can be taken to monitor and review the control measures. |
Young Worker Risk Assessment Facilitation – Consultancy Service
| A RoSPA Consultant can assist with the facilitation of Risk Assessments for Young Workers, or Risk Assessments for Work Experience placements. Areas addressed include: |
- Hours of work
- Musculoskeletal disorders
- Ergonomics
- Physical capability of young workers
- Stress
- Adequate Supervision
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We would also look to review existing health and safety polices and procedures against best practice and current guidelines. |
Young Worker Educational Resources – Posters, Videos, DVDs, Publications and Leaflets
Visit the RoSPA Web Shop at: www.rospashop.com or call 0121 248 2233 for latest prices or email: sales@rospa.com
