Agency steps up safety education for youths taking summer jobs

As the busy summer employment season begins, the Workers Safety and Compensation Commission wants northern youth to know their rights.

The commission is developing a Youth Safety Leadership program that will give students the chance to meet safety professionals and get educated on the law.

For young people heading into summer employment, workplace safety “is paramount,” said Meta Antolin, program development manager for WSCC, in an interview.

Antolin said when a young person is new on the job, they tend to be “reluctant to make waves,” sometimes even when their safety is at stake.

Last May, the WSCC held a video contest for youth. The winning entry by Kai Walden, 15, of Yellowknife, depicted a newly hired and poorly trained pest exterminator who is surprised to learn the “pests” he will be exterminating are actually zombies.

After a harrowing escape from the zombie apocalypse, the youth confronts his boss about inadequate training and communication about the hazards that come with the job.

“Youth can be really intimidated by older adults,” Walden said.

The video highlights all three pillars of workplace safety which are, according to Antolin, the right to know; the right to participate; and the right to refuse.

Young people need to know that when faced with hazardous workplace environments, they can talk to their boss or someone they trust.

The leading cause of injury among young workers in the North “is being struck by an object,” Antolin said.

That’s what happened to a City of Iqaluit summer student in 2021, when he overinflated a wheelbarrow tire, causing it to rupture and strike him in the face and arm.

The city pleaded guilty to violating Nunavut’s Safety Act last month and was fined $50,000.

The municipality has implemented additional training since then, said city spokesperson Kent Driscoll in an email.

Specifically, summer students are provided “the City of Iqaluit Young Workers Safety policy, which includes a checklist that the new summer student and their supervisor should be going over upon starting in their department,” Driscoll said.

Interested youths can apply to take part in the Safety Leadership program on the WSCC website at any time, there is no deadline. The curriculum includes presentation skills, research and public speaking.