Worker safety website launched

Safe Communities Canada has officially launched a new web site (www.passporttosafety.com) to increase awareness of workplace safety for young workers 15 to 24 years old.
“Passport to Safety” was originally conceived and piloted by Peterborough Safe Communities, then developed on-line and launched as a signature program by Safe Communities Canada in 2004 and now is applicable to workers of any age.

  Workplace safety is a high priority for Safe Communities Canada. Each year over 325,000 Canadians are injured at the workplace – over 50,000 of them are between 15 and 24. Even sadder, over 1,000 people are killed, 50 of them young people.
  “Passport to Safety” has exceeded growth expectations and young people across Canada have benefited from its use through Safe Communities in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and the Yukon, as well as through school systems in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and in Australia and New Zealand.
  Safe Communities Canada president and founder Paul Kells said, “Every day more young people, employers, and teachers are becoming familiar with the benefits of participating in Passport to Safety. To date, close to 200,000 young people world-wide have completed a Passport to Safety test, over 180,000 of them here in Canada.”
“Each year too many people are being needlessly injured and killed on the job” Kells said.
A report released last week by the Alberta Employment and Immigration Department highlighted a trend that is generally true across Canada. In Alberta, young workers made up 19.5 percent of all long-time claims and 22.7 percent of disabling injury claims, even though they made up about 17 percent of the entire workforce.
“As a society we must do more. In Alberta they are going to look at increasing education, something each jurisdiction in Canada should be doing” he concluded.
The most effective way to inform our children about their rights and responsibilities is through the school system. Teachers across Canada have been the highest users of Passport to Safety in their lesson plans and many of the improvements to the web site are as a result of their feedback.
Highlights of the new site include greater flexibility for teachers to download supporting videos and handouts to use in the classroom, test answers are simplified and shorter, successful participants now receive their transcript and certificate on one page and a new, more advanced young workers’ test will be added in September.
“The fact is that many young workers only work at part-time jobs while attending high school or at the post-secondary level. But even though they work less hours they are generally at a higher risk and have more injuries” Kells said. “If you are going back to school this fall, inquire at your school how you can participate in ‘Passport to Safety.’ If you are a teacher, include the initiative in your lesson plans. If you are a parent, inquire with your child’s school to make sure your kids know their rights and responsibilities and if you are an employer of young people, show your commitment to workplace safety by asking younger employees and applicants if they have their Passport to Safety certificate” Kells continued.
Through support from the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, New Brunswick Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission, Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Board and the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board, students in schools, youth employment centres and through employers, participate in Passport to Safety within their respective jurisdictions.
A special acknowledgement should also be given to J.D. Irving, Michelin and Ontario Power Generation along with the approximate 350 individual employers who have participated in the program.
Safe Communities Canada is Canada’s foremost community-driven injury prevention charity whose mission is to make Canada the safest place in the world to live, learn, work and play.