What If We Had Done Nothing To Reduce Youth Workplace Injuries?

What if we had done nothing?  That question sometimes enters our minds at Service Hospitality as we continue to enhance and expand our youth initiative.  Prior to the launch of Youth Safety Education Day in 2012, there was an average of 795 youth workplace injuries in the service and hospitality industries each year (2008 – 2011).  27% of those injuries came from school-aged youth (ages 13 to 18).

If we had done nothing, that number of 795 youth injuries per year would undoubtedly have grown.  But it hasn’t. 

Following the launch of Youth Safety Education Day and the subsequent youth-focused programming, youth injuries in our industries decreased to an average of 557 per year, with only 22% coming from school-aged youth (in 2012 – 2016).

Over the past 4 years, we have gone further.  We have doubled-down on our commitment to youth safety and currently offer four in-class presentations, an annual Youth Safety Education day event, and a host of online training options (including a mental health program) through our partners at Safety in Schools.  We are proud to report that over the past four years, those injury numbers to youth have decreased to an average of 487 per year, with only 17% happening to school-aged youth. We decided NOT to do nothing, and we are so, so glad.  But we aren’t finished.  Every single one of those youth injuries is preventable and we will not stop pushing to bring that number down.

For youth in grades 7 through 12, we offer online training through our partnership with Safety in Schools.  Safety in Schools delivers free online, industry-recognized workplace safety courses to high school students and when completed, the participant receives a safety certificate. Safety in Schools offers a collection of 10 Saskatchewan aligned courses available for teachers and students covering a variety of topics.

We are glad we did something, and we hope you will too.  If you are a teacher or a parent or know someone who is, please contact us today to find out how your school can get set up for online learning.  Our youth and future workforce will be glad that you too, did something.