The Workers Health & Safety Centre (WHSC) has announced four post-secondary student scholarships will be directed to four deserving candidates.
A media release announcing the details notes that
one of the goals of this annual scholarship initiative is to “dispel the myth of young worker carelessness and to move the discussion and actions towards proper preparation and prevention”.
Dave Killham, executive director, WHSC, is quoted as saying: “Age has nothing to do with whether or not young workers are hurt or killed on the job. These incidents happen because young workers are exposed to unsafe and unhealthy work environments, they are new to a job and often don’t receive even the basic training required by law.”
Toronto’s Institute for Work and Health (IWH) has reported that new workers, many of whom are students, are “four times more likely to be injured during the first month on a job than workers with more than one year experience” but that “the excess risk was mainly the result of inexperience and newness to a job. This held true for older workers who were new to the job as well.”
Students were asked to write an essay focused on ways employers should use the hierarchy of controls to “prevent or control exposure to occupational hazards.”
Despite recent cuts to funding for specific programs, WHSC says: “This same commitment to all workplace parties remains at the heart of what we’ve done for more than 30 years” including through its “training programs and resources advocating a hazard-based approach aimed at creating safer, healthier workplaces.”
This year’s winners each received $1,200. They are Cailyn Muir of Owen Sound, Joshua Lonz of Manotick, Tiana Hann of Minesing, and Summer Marcella of Stokes Bay.