The European Week for Safety and Health at Work

An European Agency For Safety And Health At Work product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 24, 2006

The European Week for Safety and Health at Work takes place from 23rd to 27th October 2006 with the aim of ensuring that young people have a safe start to their working lives.

takes place from 23rd to 27th October 2006 with the aim of ensuring that young people have a safe start to their working lives.

Across Europe, 18 to 24-year-olds are at least 50% more likely to be injured in the workplace than more experienced workers, and over 700,000 young people in this age group suffer serious injuries at work every year.

Behind the statistics are stories of young people having to live with the consequences of accidents and damaged health for the rest of their lives, or dying when they had so much of their lives ahead of them.

"Employers need to do more to protect young workers, and young people need to be more aware of health and safety issues when they enter the world of work." says Jukka Takala, Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.

"We can't just leave it until young people have already started work to teach them about health and safety".

"We have to reach them early - while they are still at school or college - so that they get used to a culture of risk prevention".

The Safe Start campaign culminates in the European Week for Safety and Health at Work from 23 - 27 October 2006, with a range of awareness-raising activities being organised in over 30 countries.

Thousands of national-level events, coordinated by the Agency's network of national focal points, will take place across Europe to bring the campaign's key messages to life in all organisations, large and small, public and private.

These will range from workplace training initiatives and seminars to risk assessments and hazard spotting, and we expect schools, classes and individual students to be involved in poster competitions, quizzes and a wide range of learning activities including visits to local companies to learn about safety and health.

"Fundamentally, the week is about sharing information and ideas." he added.

"It is about partnership, participation and preparing young people for the world of work".

"We all have an interest to ensure that young people make a safe start in their working lives, as citizens, as parents, as employers, as educators, and as policy makers".

"That is why we launched the Safe Start campaign and these are the key target groups of our campaign".

Organisations and individuals are encouraged to get involved in the campaign, organise their own events for the European Week, and help ensure that young people have a Safe Start to their working lives.

To help, the website also includes an Ideas Zone on what others have done in previous European Weeks, and a RISQ Zone for young people to try quizzes, videos, animations or send an e-card to a friend.

There is also an Accident Zone to remind everyone of the consequences of getting it wrong and why we need to take action today.