How to Explain Workplace Safety to a Teen

Teenagers often think that they know everything. They can sometimes be difficult when you try to explain new concepts to them. But workplace safety is vital to the health of the teen, as well as the company and the other employees. An employer must find a way to emphasize the importance of safety rules and regulations to all the workers.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Make the teens who work for you aware of the safety rules and regulations. Explain the reasons for the rules and insist on their cooperation. Be firm and insist that their employment depends on their compliance.

2. Hire supervisors of teens who will pay close attention to the behavior of the teen workers and call them on their mistakes. Immaturity often leads to accidents. Health can be compromised when workers who are still in their teenage years are left unsupervised.

3. Enlist the help of the parents of your teenage workers. Tell them the rules that must be followed in your workplace and ask that they help you to enforce those rules. Let them know about any infractions and ask that consequences be followed up at home.

4. Provide intensive training that spells out specific hazards in the workplace and how they can be avoided. Do not assume that teens are aware of your rules, or they have the common sense needed to avoid accidents.

5. Appoint older mentors to the younger workers, people to whom they can go with questions they might be embarrassed to ask in front of others. Then they may begin to understand workplace health regulations.