Last column we talked about how to help our kids find summer jobs.
A job is a rite of passage for many of our kids. They will learn valuable life-long skills, they’ll improve their resume and you will know that they are involved in constructive activities during the summer months. Maybe, just maybe, they won’t be bothering you for money every two minutes. And even if they do, you can remind them that they are now wage-earners.
Another consideration, however, and one we often forget, is that we also need to help our kids be safe at work. Young workers have a high injury rate. More than half their accidents occur in the first six months on the job and 80 per cent of the injuries happen to males.
I’ll bet you figure that as long as your teen isn’t working in industries such as forestry, construction or manufacturing that they’ll be fine. But actually, the highest injury rates occur in restaurants, super markets and general retail industries. While this may be because this is where more of our kids get jobs, the point is that we just don’t consider those as dangerous places for our kids to work.
According to WorkSafeBC there are a number of activities that most commonly lead to injury. They are lifting objects, working in elevated levels such as ladders, shelving or scaffolding, working with knives or with hot substances. There are also jobs calling for workers to drive mobile equipment such as lawn mowers or forklifts. Food slicers can be dangerous as can working with or near large machinery. Once your child has a job, you will have an idea of possible areas of concern.
However, with a bit of planning and education we can inoculate our teens against injury. It’s a case of needing to be aware of the risks and teaching our kids how to avoid them.
Young people believe they are invincible; they don’t believe they can ever be hurt. They’re inexperienced, they’re unaware of their rights on the job, lack confidence, they’re afraid to ask questions and they’re very eager to please. It’s a challenge but we need to strongly advise our kids that it’s totally acceptable to ask questions and to let them know that they can ask for training. Too many young workers take on jobs for which they have no training. They are afraid if they acknowledge that they need training that they will lose the job.
Encourage your teen to describe his day at work. While he’s describing his job listen for examples of tasks for which he may need some on-the-job instruction.
If he believes a task is dangerous and he needs training he has the right to refuse to do the work until his safety concerns are addressed.
You may also have to help your child with workplace attitudes which can lead to boredom, lack of attention and injury. The new kid on the job is often given the most boring or physically demanding work. Bored kids often don’t pay strict attention, which leads to accidents. Unless they’ve been taught how to handle physical jobs they are likely to be hurt lifting or pulling. Be encouraging. Let him know that you appreciate how bored he is but that in every job you have to start at the bottom and work your way up the ladder. Meanwhile, remind him that he needs to do whatever he needs to do to stay safe.
WorkSafeBC has a helpful website that gives youth and parents access to a range of resources.
We are also our kids’ role models. When you work around the home, do you consider safety? Do you wear proper footwear when you mow the lawn, set your ladder firmly, use proper tie-downs when on the roof and do you teach your child to behave in the same manner?
Once you have addressed the safety concerns, you and your teen can enjoy all the benefits of his new job.
Kathy Lynn is a parenting expert who is a professional speaker and author of Vive la Différence, Who’s In Charge Anyway? and But Nobody Told Me I’d Ever Have to Leave Home. If you want to read more, sign up for her informational newsletter at parentingtoday.ca.
