“The earlier we can reach workers, especially young workers just entering the work force, on what work safety is and how they can stay safe on the job, the closer we can get to our target of zero workplace fatalities,” said ASSE President-elect and PR Committee Chair Terrie Norris, ARM, CSP.
Statistics show that 117 teens under the age of 18 died from work-related injuries in 2007 and another 77,000 teen workers were hurt badly enough to end up in hospital emergency rooms. Throughout the United States, about 230,000 teens suffer work-related injuries, with most of those injuries occurring in the retail or service industries, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Overall, close to 6,000 workers die from on-the-job injuries and 4.4 million more suffer from injuries and illnesses in the United States alone.
ASSE’s new safety kit includes the interactive online game “Don’t Be a Zombie at Work.” This free game takes players through a variety of workplaces and risks to illustrate how to work safely how EHS professionals help prevent injuries and illnesses.
The kit also provides fact sheets, brochures, research articles, quizzes and presentation aids that can be downloaded and printed. They can be used for presentations at high schools or community events, Girl Scout meetings, boys and girls clubs and more. The ASSE PR Committee spearheaded the project.
“Target Teen Work Safety” can be accessed at http://www.asse.org/teensafety.