Young workers have an amplified risk of experiencing physical and psychosocial harm in the workplace and this must be assessed and addressed by employers, Work Health and Safety (WHS) experts said at a recent webinar for Ai Group members.
Those aged 25 and under are more likely to be bullied and peer-pressured, experience harassment and have feelings of low job control.
It means employers need to implement and deliver safety measures in a way that engages these workers and creates inclusive cultures so young people feel safe to speak up and share concerns, panellists said.
Webinar host Mal Hutchinson — Senior WHS Adviser (NSW), Ai Group, was joined by:
According to Safe Work Australia, in 2022, there were:
“Risk factors for the physical and psychological safety of workers under the age of 25 are the same as for other workers — but amplified,” Mr Hutchinson said.
This is because:
“Psychological risks feed into physical risks, so if people are stressed and their colleagues are not being respectful and cooperative, that creates physical risks,” Mr Hutchinson said.
“People are more likely to hurt themselves in workplaces that don’t have a good workplace culture.”
Creating safe and healthy workplaces is not only the right thing to do, it’s the law.
Employers have a general duty of care under WHS legislation for the physical and psychological health and safety of workers.
Under Respect@Work laws, they also have a ‘positive duty’ to prevent workplace sexual harassment, sex-based harassment, sex discrimination, hostile work environments and victimisation.
Organisations and businesses are required to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate these types of behaviours, as far as possible.
“There are major benefits to creating a mentally healthy workplace for young workers,” Mr Hutchinson said.
“Young people can bring unique skills, enthusiasm to learn and fresh ideas to a workplace.
“They are our future and, in my opinion, there's nothing better than seeing young workers, apprentices and trainees getting a start in life.”
It’s a view shared by enlightened organisations.
Nearly 20 per cent of Bunnings’ employees are under 20, and nearly half are under 29.
Bunnings’ Jackie Walsh said: “Our leaders tell us they spend more time supporting the younger team members (rather than older workers) with a range of issues.
“They act as mentors and are open to talking about a variety of issues affecting young people — everything from the cost of living to navigating relationships with other team members, family and friends.”
Those between 20-29 are also most at risk of physical injury so Bunnings has a strong focus on the overall health and safety of its younger team members.
“For many of our young team members, working at Bunnings is their first-ever job,” Ms Walsh said.
“They’ve never been part of a workforce, so during their induction, we buddy them up with someone who might be a little older, to enable them to ask questions in the moment, rather than having to go to their leader which may be daunting for some.”
Bunnings also has graduate programs that enable young team members to learn different tasks and roles and has a culture of recruiting ‘from the floor’.
“We want our younger team members to grow with us,” Ms Walsh said.
A recent Bunnings survey revealed 65 per cent of team members under 25 experienced mental ill health in the past 12 months — higher than other age groups.
However, younger team members are failing to make the most of the health and safety resources available to staff.
“We have a large pool of online resources, as well as counselling options, but younger team members want something on their phone,” Ms Walsh said.
“They don’t necessarily want to go through a portal with a Bunnings banner, so we’re trialling different ways they can get that information. It’s a good learning for us.
“They also prefer to go to a team leader and have a face-to-face conversation, which means we provide our leaders with plenty of support, too.”
The Agostino Group operates brands such as Subway and Carl’s Jr in South Australia, where Operations Manager Danny Caporaso is based.
Seventy per cent of workers employed by these brands in SA/NT are 15-18.
As such, Agostino has gone to great lengths to reduce and remove potential hazards at its venues.
“None of our sites use knives,” Mr Caporaso said.
“We’ve purchased special equipment with safety guards to cut items like lettuce and tomatoes. If risks do arise, we supply mesh gloves and thorough training.
“Our safety manager conducts weekly checks to ensure our workplaces are free from hazards such as sharp edges or cracked tiles.”
Safety is considered as early as when Agostino Group venues are being built.
High-flow areas are extra wide, wash-up areas have extra drains and non-slip tiles are used.
To support its young workforce, Agostino also has a buddy system and resources that include short cartoon-based video learning modules focusing on all aspects of WHS, including how to use the equipment, First-Aid and basic food-safety training.
Acknowledging teenagers’ love of their mobile phones, Agostino uses an app — the Skytrust Safety App to enable staff to report health and safety issues.
“During school terms, the young kids don’t get scheduled more than once Monday to Thursday and no more than twice between Friday and Sunday,” Mr Caporaso said.
“We want them to focus on their studies, not be overwhelmed by work.”
With a large apprentice base, Mayfield — which provides solutions to electrical and telecommunications infrastructure challenges — also uses the Skytrust Safety App for health and safety reporting.
Safety Business Partner Bel Huddy said: “We embrace the younger generation coming in.
“It’s a good step for any employer to bring the young personnel though because they have new ideas and, in most cases, if they’re happy in the workplace, they’ll stay and want to work their way up through the business.”
“We have safe operating procedures for every piece of hand equipment, plant and process that we do – the apprentices are all signed, verified and competent with it,” Ms Huddy said.
“Inductions are very important. We have an online induction and take our young workers on safety walks with a person they have access to regularly.
“I sit in on the inductions and stress to them that no question is a silly question. They need to feel relaxed and embraced by the workplace.
“We go through ways to raise hazards. Sometimes, the younger generation don’t want to speak to a manager; they feel more comfortable speaking to a buddy, perceiving there might be ramifications from speaking up. We also have regular toolbox talks.
“It’s so important our younger workforce has a voice and will be heard.”
Mayfield sources apprentices from the Ai Group Apprentice and Trainee Centre (Ai Group ATC) and the two organisations work together to assess and address safety risks.
Ai Group ATC’s Tony Scarini said: “We make sure host employers have a good safety management system.
“Workplace culture is also important, and we have high standards for our apprentices’ supervisors.
“We encourage them to take the time to educate the apprentices in the right way of doing things. We champion that culture where safety comes first."
Ai Group members can access the most up-to-date WHS information in our Health and Safety Resource Centre. If you need to speak to someone for advice, members and non-members alike can contact our WHS Consulting Team here.
Wendy Larter is Communications Manager at the Australian Industry Group. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a reporter, features writer, contributor and sub-editor for newspapers and magazines including The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and Metro, the News of the World, The Times and Elle in the UK.
