WORKCOVER NSW is urging mining businesses across the state to think about the safety of young workers as part of Safe Work Month.
WorkCover CEO Rob Thomson says young workers aged under 25 have a higher risk of being injured on the job that older workers because of their age and inexperience or areluctance to speak up about safety concerns.
Around 13% of all employment injuries and occupational diseases in New South Wales occur among the State’s 562,000 young workers and each day 15 young workers are injured at work.
Manual handling injuries are the most common among young workers and accounted for 13% of all injuries in 2007/08.
Thomson says employers should ensure that young workers are provided with sufficient support to undertake their work safely with particular attention paid to high-risk areas such as working at heights, using electrical equipment, plant and machinery and working with chemicals and dangerous goods.
For more information on young worker safety, including free guidance material, visit the WorkCover Website or call 13 10 50.
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