Never too young to be safe

Submitted by jessica on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 09:17.

He's only 10 years old but he's been visiting construction sites for several years, with his dad - and he's always fully decked out in safety gear. Philipe Mathers of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, says he wants to be a safety inspector when he grows up.

I came across this news item, "Never Too Young to be Safe" and thought it was worth sharing.

I regularly speak to middle schools - which includes kids the same age as Philippe - about safety and my own family's tragic loss of my brother, Dave, on the job.

They may not listen quite as intently as the high school students my dad, Rob, speaks to, but younger kids aren't always as safe from hard when it comes to work as you might think. Some examples:

  • Raking leaves or shoveling snow for neighbors: risk of back and shoulder injuries; danger of being struck by snow removal machines on the road.
  • Delivering newspapers: security risk being alone in early a.m. hours; risk of being hit by a vehicle.
  • Babysitting: risk of being alone in a house at night; risk of sexual harassment by parent driving you home at night.

Never assume your child is too young to worry about workplace safety. My kids are only 4 and 2, but I'll be watching like a hawk when they get their first informal, neighborhood jobs in just a few years!

What about your kids? Or your own work experience as a 10 to 14-year old? Submit a comment below!

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When I was a kid, I worked

Submitted by Phil Spencer on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 08:34.
When I was a kid, I worked as a lawn-boy at my family's favorite campground. To me -this was the life! I got to spend my days outdoors on a tractor, days off when it rained, and lots of friends and activities around when my work was complete. What I wasn't aware of was the incredible danger that the riding lawn mower posed to me and to others (let's face it, I was an inexperienced driver). Luckily, for me, out all the summers I worked there, there was only incident with the tractor - and my victim was a flower bed. BUT, it could have been worse. I'm not saying that the campground was wrong for hiring me, it just that 'the times, they are a changin' - and most young kids aren't accustomed to utilizing farming equipment, or simply lawn mowers (in my case) due to the fact our sprawling cities don't leave much room for grass. My point is that some jobs that may not have required AS MUCH training in the past, may require full scale orientation and training. Thanks for getting the conversation started Jessica!

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