What is Safe Jobs for Youth Month?
California's governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed May as "Safe
Jobs for Youth Month." Safe Jobs for Youth Month is an annual public
awareness campaign to highlight the importance of preventing teen injuries
on the job. The objective is to protect young workers from injury by
raising community awareness about child labor and workplace health and
safety issues. It is supported by the California
Partnership for Young Worker Health and Safety, a statewide working
group representing government agencies, educators, parents, employers,
job trainers, labor unions and others. Everyone is encouraged to help
bring attention to this issue in their own communities.
Why Is It Needed?
Every 6 minutes, somewhere in the U.S. a teenager is injured seriously
enough on the job to go to a hospital emergency room. 70 teens die from
their injuries each year. These injuries and deaths can be prevented if
you know the laws, make sure teens are doing appropriate work, make sure
teen workers are trained and supervised, and help teens learn to ask for
help when they need it.
Who Can Participate?
Everyone! Think about what you can do in your program or community to
highlight this issue, among any of the following audiences:
- Teens
- Employers
- School Administrators
- Teachers
- Parents
- Job trainers
What Kinds of Activities Will Help Promote Safe Jobs for Youth in Our
Community?
An awareness campaign in your community could involve the following possible
components:
- A media campaign
- A city resolution (To see actual proclamations, click here.) in support of Safe Jobs for
Youth Month
- Recruitment of teens to participate in the Safe
Jobs for Youth Month Poster or PSA Contest.
- Display case at schools or libraries (For sample of an actual display, click here).
Activities for schools
Activities for job training programs
- Highlight health and safety in recruitment outreach,
job fairs
- Seek city council resolutions supporting safe jobs
for youth
- Offer workshops for participating employers
Activities for employer groups
- Include information on child labor laws and training
young workers in employer newsletters
- Highlight best practices of "good" youth
employers
- Work with local summer jobs programs to help recruit
employers and highlight health and safety
- Bring a Health and Safety speaker to your local
business meeting
Activities for parents
- Plan presentations at PTA meetings, churches
- Include information on child labor laws and health
and safety issues in newsletters (PTA, churches, other parent organizations)
Activities for labor organizations
- Offer speakers to schools to address health and
safety issues Place an article in the union newsletter
- Make a presentation at a union meeting
- Distribute information to teen members
Activities for Safe Jobs for Youth Month
- Media Campaign
The California Department of Industrial Relations is conducting a media
campaign to inform the California press about issues in young worker
health and safety. Contact Renee Bacchini for
information.
Young Worker Leadership Academy Activities. This year, teams of youth from many California communities who attended one of our Young Worker Leadership Academies will be conducting outreach and educational activities during Safe Jobs for Youth Month. These will include school and community workshops, surveys of working teens, and development of videos and PSAs. For more information, contact driver@berkeley.edu, dbush@berkeley.edu, or amoran@ucla.edu.
- Resource Kits for Teachers
The California Resource Network for Young Worker Health and Safety
has created Resource Kits for community action on young worker health
and safety. See below for information on how to order.
- Teen Poster Contest
The California Resource Network for Young Worker Health and Safety
holds an annual Teen Poster Contest, with up to 200 entries statewide. Check back in September 2009 for information about the 2010 Teen Poster Contest.
- General Educational Outreach and Publicity
All of the members of the California Partnership
for Young Worker Health and Safety participate by posting information
on their websites, and distributing factsheets to teens and employers.
What are you doing?
If you are publicizing or holding an event during Safe Jobs for Youth
Month in your school or community, contact Donna Iverson and
we'll publicize it here!
Materials available to order and/or download from the California Resource
Network for Young Worker Health and Safety
(1) Free! Resource
Kit: For teachers and other adults working with teens. It contains a teaching
activity, "Bingo" instructing teens on workplace rights and health
and safety, a teen-drawn poster, factsheets for youth and employers
summarizing child labor laws, and some samples of how to get active
in one's local community.
(2) Free! Teen Poster:
A colorful poster about young worker health and safety created by
a California
teen.
(3) Free! Educational
Bookmarks. Printed in color by the Department of Industrial
Relations. Lists some health and safety prevention and child labor
laws. (See sample -
call LOHP for more information.)
(4) Free! Flyer with resource
information. This teen-oriented, postable flyer advertises the
toll-free resource line 1-888-933-TEEN (8336) and website, www.youngworkers.org
of the California Resource Network for Young Worker Health and Safety.
Order multiple copies to distribute. If you would like to order any
of these free materials, please contact
Donna Iverson. Some of these
and other materials are available on our Document
Downloads page.
Additional printed materials may be ordered from: UC
Berkeley-LOHP and UCLA-LOSH
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Where Can I Get More Information?
Young Workers Project
Labor Occupational Health Program
U.C. Berkeley
2223 Fulton St., 4th Floor
Berkeley, CA 94720-5120
1-888-933-8336 (Telephone)
510-643-5698 (FAX)
driver@berkeley.edu
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