OSHA Young Worker Safety Campaign and the Temporary Worker Initiative

“Young Workers! You Have Rights!” The motto of the new OSHA Young Workers Safety Campaign says volumes about the concern over the well-being of earnest young workers. If you have young workers on staff — whether full-time, part-time, or as a temporary employee at a call center, in an office, or manufacturing environment — it is essential that you understand the key points of this vital campaign.

What Are Your Responsibilities When It Comes to Complying with OSHA’s Young Worker Safety Campaign?

You likely already do your best to make sure your young workers stay safe while working for you. OSHA’s new campaign can actually help make your efforts easier, giving you a guideline about this vital segment of the workforce.

JD Supra recently reported that, per OSHA’s guidelines, “Young workers are those new to the workforce, even up to age 24. Young workers can be an asset to your workforce. However, it may be their first job or the first time they are operating equipment.” Additionally, if you do employ people under the age of 18, you must observe child labor laws, which restrict types of jobs, equipment used, and hours worked.

Inform and Equip Your Young Workers

It is important that, once you enlist a young worker, you give them all the information and safety gear that they need to stay safe and healthy during their shift and on your grounds. OSHA has provided several resources that you can use to supplement the training you already have in place, including construction hazard videos, restaurant safety modules, “how-to” safety videos for landscaping and construction, and guides to avoid special risks for warehouse workers. Remember to equip young workers with safety gloves, goggles, hard hats, and anything else to keep them protected in your specific work environment.

Give Your Young Employees the Voice to Raise Safety Concerns

An important dynamic of this campaign involves giving young workers a voice while working at your business. Young employees may hesitate to ask questions about safety, worried that you will think they are questioning your management’s authority, or that they were not listening. They may not ask questions out of sheer work inexperience, insecurity and shyness. Let your young employees know that they can, and should, ask questions any time they have them without fear of judgment or any sort of backlash.

How Does OSHA’s Young Workers’ Campaign Affect the Temporary Worker Initiative?

Time Doctor reports that, since 1997, young people have become the largest demographic to become involved with the temporary staffing phenomenon.

OSHA recognizes the value of this segment of the U.S. workforce and wants to ensure their safety and health while gaining experience to become a permanent fixture in the American workforce, whether permanent or temporary. OSHA thought of everything when it came to this campaign for all workers, including temporary workers, drawing from the Temporary Worker Initiative.

As the host employer for your temporary team, we know how important it is to you to follow the proper guidelines to keep your young temporary workers safe. At ABR Employment Services, we can help you stay in compliance to keep your young team safe, healthy and on the clock. Our team has learned both the Young Worker’s Campaign and the Temporary Worker Initiative, inside and out, and we can help you in the following ways so you can feel at ease when welcoming young temporary employees:

• With your agreement, we visit your workplace to go over OSHA’s requirements before sending young workers your way.
• We provide training for young employees on safety matters that apply to your workplace.

We can do so much more to help you keep young workers safe while they are at your company. Contact us for more information about what you can do on your own to ensure workplace safety for your young and eager workers.