Safety website for young workers

SafeWork SA has begun a program of asking young South Australians what they need in the way of resources on workplace safety and industrial relations.

A special project team is embarking on a major consultation exercise across metropolitan Adelaide, the Riverland, Eyre Peninsula and the South East.

The aim is to develop a new area of the SafeWork SA website specifically for young workers, who are often at higher risk of being underpaid or injured at work.

“Our research shows that in comparison with other workers, young people are twice as likely to be injured at work and most of these incidents occur in the first year of their employment,” said executive director, Michele Patterson.

“We also find that they are often short-changed by so-called ‘trial work’ that, legally, they should be paid to do.

“We intend to provide an ongoing resource to advise students and young workers on what safety systems should exist at work and how to ensure they receive their proper pay, conditions and entitlements.”

In the coming months, the SafeWork SA project team will run an online survey and conduct focus group sessions with students to hear of their workplace experiences and their preferences on the content and design of the website.

These are being set up with the help of schools and local government Youth Advisory Committees.

The proposed website is anticipated to go online later this year.