Final Report
Minister’s Action Group on Vulnerable Workers Under the Age of 25
[ 260 KB / 13 pages | Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Definition of Vulnerable Youth
- Workplace Safety Issues Facing Vulnerable Youth
- Vulnerable youth
- Their jobs
- Their injuries
- The need to do more
- Minister’s Action Group on Vulnerable Workers Under the Age of 25
- Purpose
- Membership
- Terms of reference
- Meetings and public input
- Minister’s Action Group Recommendations
- Next Steps
- Conclusion
A. Executive Summary
In July 2006, a Minister’s Action Group on Vulnerable Youth was formed, with the Honourable Steve Peters, Minister of Labour, as chair. The action group membership included youth from the target age group, youth culture experts, youth labour market experts, youth safety practitioners and business representatives. The terms of reference defined their task as recommending non-regulatory approaches that would provide practical solutions to preventing injuries.
The Action Group met five times between September 2006 and May 2007 and presented eight recommendations under two categories:
- Protecting our people by making sure vulnerable youth have the information and resources they need to recognize unsafe situations and have the confidence to say no to unsafe work
- Improving safety in workplaces that employ vulnerable youth.
The recommendations will be addressed by the Ministry of Labour in consultation and collaboration with partners, including the Ministry of Education, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), Occupational Health and Safety Council of Ontario (OHSCO) members and other government and non-governmental agencies.
B. Definition of “Vulnerable Youth”
Adapted from: Canadian Policy Research Network, January 2006: “Risk and Opportunity: Creating Options for Vulnerable Workers”--Ron Saunders
For the purpose of this panel, vulnerable youth are those under the age of 25 who are out of the school system and in the labour market and are therefore vulnerable to workplace injuries.
Statistics in this section will show notable trends in injury rates for youth in the 16-24 year-old age bracket. Detailed injury reports show that many serious and fatal injuries happen to youth who are out of the school system.
Besides being “at risk” for injuries, current research describes other characteristics of “vulnerable” workers:
- Earnings are very low over long periods of time because of persistently low wages and/or lack of stable, full-time employment
- Many lack the opportunity or resources to upgrade their skills
- Work in various situations: perhaps self-employed, working in the underground economy, seasonal, temporary, working for family, and may not have legal protection
- Work arrangements for many do not allow them to qualify for Employment Insurance or public pension plans or they lack non-statutory benefits like medical insurance, dental plans, and disability coverage
- Jobs often do not fall under collective agreements.
C. Workplace Safety Issues Facing Vulnerable Youth
Vulnerable youth
- According to Ministry of Education news releases in 2005, almost one third of Ontario secondary school students did not graduate. Instead, they left school early and took on temporary and permanent work, falling under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labour.
- Also according to the Ministry of Education, 50 per cent of all Ontario secondary school students who complete Grade 12 go directly to the workplace.
- By those statistics, if 150,000 students start Grade 9, 100,000--that is, two thirds of them--will be in the workplace before or during their 18th year.
- The “drop out” statistics should change dramatically with the new “Learn to 18” legislation and Student Success strategies developed by the Ministry of Education and being implemented in school boards across the province, but we will still see a large number of students enter the workforce upon completing Grade 12 at age 17 or 18.
Their jobs
- Many youth, either early school leavers or new graduates, enter Ontario workplaces, often taking on risky jobs and facing unsafe conditions. Far too many are injured or killed. Sometimes, because of their availability and eagerness to work, they become team leaders, supervisors in charge of even younger workers.
Their injuries
- A Ministry of Labour review of recent fatal and serious injuries investigated by inspectors indicates that early school leavers and those who have gone directly from Grade 12 to the workplace are disproportionately represented in these incidents.
- The number of claims for 20-24-year-olds has not aligned with the success Ontario has seen in the reduction of lost-time injuries among youth 19 and under, where health and safety education is delivered to secondary students. Since school safety lessons started, Ontario has seen an overall 32 per cent decease in lost time injuries among teenagers (WSIB 2000 vs. 2005 statistics).
- This is not to say that all is well with teenage work safety. A recent review of WSIB statistics found the construction sector had a 71 per cent increase in lost-time injuries among 16-18-year olds, a 40 per cent increase among 19-year-olds and a 50 per cent increase for 20-24-year-olds. Further, in the health care sector, there was a 40 per cent increase in teen lost-time injuries between 1999 and 2004. The actual number of workers being injured in health care is not high--here were 548 teens who suffered a lost-time injury in 2004--but the trend must be addressed before more young workers enter that sector.
- Recent research by the Institute for Work & Health (results below) has verified what had been observed during Ministry of Labour investigations of serious and fatal injuries to young workers, which is that the most vulnerable are those who are not in school. Those not in school with either less than a high school diploma, or those who have their diploma and are not in school, had the highest incidence of medically attended work injuries in their age group.
Figure 1: Rate of medically attended work injuries by education status
Source: Institute for Work and Health
We need to do more
- While many sectors have seen significant decreases in injuries to young workers, it is clear that more efforts are required in certain sectors to prevent unnecessary illnesses and injuries among Ontario youth.
- To date there have been few, if any, focused prevention efforts for out-of-school working youth. Social, economic and cultural factors make lifestyles for this demographic atypical and unpredictable, thus it is difficult to accurately target and reach the group with social marketing or prevention messages.
- The need is simple: to reduce costs of injuries, end human suffering and loss and the societal impact of workplace injures and death of some of our most vulnerable workers.
D. Minister’s Action Group on Vulnerable Youth
Purpose
- A Minister’s Action Group was formed to examine the unique work culture of out-of-school youth between the ages of 15 and 24 and propose prevention interventions that can help reduce the high number of injuries and deaths in this unique sub-set of “young workers”.
- Membership included youth from the target age group, youth culture experts, youth labour market experts, youth safety practitioners and business representatives. This was strategic in order to provide the Ministry of Labour and its partners with what is currently missing: an understanding of the unique needs of these youth so we can ensure our actions to reduce injuries are effective.
- The Action Group's input represents a unique opportunity to develop customized strategies for vulnerable youth to meet their needs in a meaningful way and provide effective interventions.
Membership
The “Vulnerable Workers Under 25” Action Group was chaired by the Minister of Labour. It consisted of selected representatives who are in the target demographic group, labour market experts, specialists, practitioners and others involved directly in identifying issues and creating solutions for this demographic.
Technical and administrative support for the Action Group was provided as needed by Ministry of Labour staff. The Ministry of Education and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board also appointed representatives to observe and support the action group.
Members were selected from five areas of expertise:
- Industry where youth work: They have expertise or “reach” to industries where vulnerable, out-of-school youth most often work.
- Youth in the workplace: Youth in the 17-22-year-old age bracket who have left school early, or gone directly to the workplace from high school and have experienced the realities of work for youth. Note: three youth members were proposed (because this committee was about them and membership was important); often one was not able to attend, but two were typically present for the meetings.
- Youth safety experts and practitioners: Ontario experts who research, work with, or advocate for vulnerable, out-of-school youth.
- Youth employment and apprenticeship experts: Those who work directly with these youth or are involved in organizations that support them. Candidates were recommended by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.
- Experts in youth culture, life and issues of vulnerable youth: Ontario experts recommended by other ministries who have a good understanding of the social and other realities facing vulnerable youth.
Members: “Vulnerable Workers Under the Age 25” Action Group
The Hon. Steve Peters, Chair
Minister of Labour
Brett McKenzie
Director of Membership Development/Marketing
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Construction Council of Ontario
Elyse Soininen
Youth member
Elora, Ontario
Jessica McClinchey
Youth member
Brantford, Ontario
Paul Kells
Founder & Acting President, Safe Communities Canada
Executive Director, Passport to Safety
Dr. Cam Mustard
President and Senior Scientist
Institute for Work and Health
Matt Wood
Executive Director
Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres
Brenda Pipitone
Director of Special Projects and Community Partnerships
George Brown College
Mitzie Hunter
VP Marketing
Goodwill Greater Toronto, Central and Eastern Ontario
Terms of Reference
MINISTRY OF LABOUR
“VULNERABLE WORKERS UNDER 25”: MINISTER'S ACTION GROUP
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Purpose
The Minister is establishing a multi-stakeholder Action Group to encourage innovative ideas aimed at reducing injuries among Ontario's workers who are out of secondary school and under the age of 25. The goal is to maintain Ontario's ranking as the province with the lowest rate of lost time injuries for young workers.
There are excellent programs aimed at Ontario youth who are in school that have proven to reduce injuries. However, closer examination reveals that there is still a large problem reducing serious and fatal injuries among youth under the age of 25 who go directly to the workplace after secondary school.
The Action Group will:
- Identify, from experience and workplace realities, any gaps in communication, knowledge or skills that may be a cause of workplace injuries and deaths among post-secondary youth;
- Identify best practices for, and recommend enhancements to, a non-regulatory coordinated strategy that can make workplaces safer for new, young and inexperienced workers, including increasing the knowledge and skills of employers and supervisors;
- Recommend methods, strategies and processes to provide appropriate health and safety social marketing, awareness and education to workers under the age of 25 who are outside of the education system;
- Recommend where, when and how messages aimed at youth under the age of 25 outside the school system would be most effectively delivered;
- Recommend an implementation plan with time lines and an evaluation plan.
Membership
The “Vulnerable Workers Under 25” Action Group will be chaired by the Minister of Labour or his delegate. It will consist of selected representatives who are in the target demographic, labour market experts, specialists, practitioners and others involved directly with identifying issues and creating solutions for this age group.
Technical and administrative support for the Action Group will be provided as needed by Ministry staff. Background information, including current statistics, will be provided in advance of the first meeting.
Duration
The action group will meet a maximum of four times, as required to fulfill its purpose as determined by the Minister.
Meetings and public input
Members of the Minister’s Action group met five times:
- September 13, 2006
- November 27, 2006
- January 31, 2007
- April 5, 2007
- May 17, 2007
Meetings focused on:
- Issues around working youth who have left high school and are under 25
- Discussion of gaps and best practices to reduce injuries in this group. Why are these out-of-school youth so vulnerable to injuries? Is there a typical profile for them? Is more research needed?
- Youth empowerment:
- What are the opportunities? Points of engagement for youth.
- How do we approach youth? Approaching youth in a meaningful way, different strategies for male and female.
- What do we present to them? How to present positive stories of empowerment, confidence, and asking questions in the workplace.
- Employer engagement
- Who are the employers of vulnerable youth?
- What opportunities are there to engage with them?
- What should the message be?
Public input:
- Public input was encouraged through the Action Group members and through the main Ministry of Labour website (screen shot below)
- Significant input was received and presented to the Action Group for their consideration when developing recommendations
- 155 responses were received, 149 of them via email. They represented suggestions from:
- Youth: 84 submissions
- Teachers: 23 submissions
- Employers: 11 submissions
- Community members : 37 submissions
- Northern consultations: 4 submissions
- Safety partners: 1 submission
- Action Group members: 2 submissions
Figure 2: Screen capture of the Young Worker page on the Ministry of Labour website.
Find the Ministry of Labour Young Worker page at: http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/site/youngworkers.html
E. Minister’s Action Group Recommendations
Protecting our people by making sure vulnerable youth have the information and resources they need to recognize unsafe situations and have the confidence to say no
- The Ministry of Labour, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and other health and safety partners involved in developing social marketing and safety messages should make a special effort to understand and engage vulnerable, out-of-school youth to ensure appropriate safety messaging and calls to action for this demographic.
- Recognizing that health and safety has been well-integrated and supported in the Ontario secondary school curriculum, the Ministry of Labour should continue to work with the Ministry of Education to provide additional support and resources for teachers and students, especially those in cooperative education, those that leave school before graduation and students in new Student Success programs such as the Specialist High Skills Major.
- The government should consider providing workplace health and safety educational programs in locations where vulnerable, out-of-school youth will most likely frequent, such as the on-line Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) job bank, youth employment centres, social services and community agencies, shelters, food banks and community centres.
- The Ministry of Labour should work with other government agencies such as the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Ministry of Community and Social Services, Ontario Works, HRSDC and Youth Employment Strategy (YES) to determine if there are more opportunities for outreach initiatives and to coordinate messaging.
- The Ministry of Labour should consider ways to provide a youth-focused health and safety support system for those who need information about workplace health and safety or want to report an incident in their workplace, perhaps coordinating this with existing youth employment agencies and services or call centres, if possible, creating a single window for youth employment issues.
- The Ministry of Labour should ensure that vulnerable youth who have suffered a reprisal due to reporting an unsafe working condition have access to timely support to enforce their rights under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Improving safety in workplaces that employ vulnerable youth
- The Ministry of Labour should explore new ways to notify workplace parties about their responsibilities for providing orientation, training and supervision under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and ensure enforcement to demonstrate the consequences of not providing adequate workplace health and safety protection for new and young workers.
- The Ministry of Labour and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board should work with the health and safety associations, government, employers and other partners to implement programs that will set benchmarks for high performance and exceptional orientation, training and supervision of new and young workers.
F. Next Steps
The Ministry of Labour will consult with partners, including the Ministry of Education and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, to respond to the recommendations and create action plans.
G. Conclusion
The Minister’s Action Group has provided valuable input to address the unique needs of out-of-school young workers who are vulnerable to serious workplace injuries. It is clear that traditional messages and delivery channels are not necessarily effective with this group of workers.
The youth culture and employment expertise of Action Group members have contributed to new ways of thinking about addressing workplace safety and strategic prevention initiatives that can influence health and safety in this difficult-to-reach group of workers and their employers.
Inquiries
Please direct inquiries to: YoungWorkers@ontario.ca
