Who's watching the parents? The new safety guardians...

Usually when I speak to an auditorium full of high school students, we focus on how they can get the respect they deserve on the job. But recently, when I chatted with students at York Memorial Collegiate Institute in Toronto, I was struck by how much concern they expressed about ... their parents' safety and well-being!

As a dad, I was deeply moved. As a safety advocate, I was inspired.

One grade 11 student stood up at the microphone - in front of hundreds of her peers - to ask how she can help her mom, who's a self-employed occupational therapist. Katie, 17, wanted to know:

• Can Mom get WSIB insurance coverage as a one-person small business? [yes]
• How can her mother prevent injuries from all the bending she does as well as working with children with disabilties who sometimes lash out at her? [various ergonomics and MSD resources]

Katie was so keen on getting her mom help that she briefly stepped out of her next class - after my presentation - to join me and my team in the school staff room for further questioning!

One of her fellow students also spoke out in the question-and-answer period of my presentation. He said that his dad has a dangerous job, and he worries about him a lot: how can he help his father take better care of himself?

I hope that my guest 'safety champions' (executives from a small company and a larger corporation, a union rep, and a lawyer- I take a different pack of employers to every school presentation) and I were able to give these students some useful direction on how to help their parents.

Are we overlooking a whole demographic of safety champions?

The audience members - most of them too young to drive, vote or drink - demonstrated such maturity, thoughtfulness and comprehension of complicated subjects. And they were turning that tremendous energy and smarts to focus on their parents! Obviously, this next generation is going to champion safety in ways I haven't even imagined.

Maybe we need to start a new section in this website - Tips for Youth to Share with their Parents (the way we currently offer resources for parents on how to help their kids with workplace safety and health issues)... ?

So, all you young "caregivers" out there - ideas? Let me know.

We could use more 'youth champions' like the ones I met at York Memorial C.I.