The role of high schools in introductory occupational safety education – Teacher perspectives on effectiveness

Foundational workplace safety and health competencies for the emerging workforce

“…Because the majority of students work at some point during their high school years, the integration of foundational workplace safety and health competencies into middle school and high school curricula may be one way to ensure that every young person, before he or she enters the workforce, has the ability to be cognizant of risks on the job and be able to engage in appropriate actions for dealing with them effectively (Miller & Waehrer, 1998). Schools have proven to be a particularly effective locus for delivery of vital workplace safety and health skills (Linker, Miller, Freeman, & Burbacher, 2005; Pisaniello et al, 2013; Schulte et al, 2005). Additionally, integrating these competencies into school curricula allows for the material to be geared towards the appropriate students’ age and developmental level (Miller & Waehrer, 1998).…”

“…According to a survey of teachers in Australia, interviewees suggested that the quality of occupational safety education would be improved if it were formally integrated into curricula—making the topic compulsory and standardized, with assessment provided and credit awarded (Pisaniello et al, 2013). …”

“…Moreover, NIOSH is also exploring how the core competencies might be integrated into community-based programs. While there is evidence that school-based educational programs have the potential to increase knowledge about safety, there are currently no known studies that show that this increase in knowledge will translate to safe behavior and, ultimately, injury reduction (Pisaniello et al, 2013). Future evaluation of the NIOSH pilot projects will be important to establish the extent to which young people are able to apply the foundational workplace safety and health competencies they learn in the classroom to real-world situations.…”

Effective measures to decrease air contaminants through risk and control visualization – A study of the effective use of QR codes to facilitate safety training

“…Previous studies have evaluated safety training on first aid (Lingard, 2002) and empowerment (Lippin et al, 2000); both these forms of safety training have been shown to be effective in improving safety behavior among workers as well as increasing their awareness of risks at work (Lippin et al, 2000;Lingard, 2002). Additionally, it has been found important to provide safety training for upper secondary schools (Davis and Pollack, 1995;Schulte et al, 2005;Pisaniello, 2013), as these schools prepares students for future work situations (Pisaniello, 2013). However, it has been found that high schools are not always set up to provide the necessary safety training.…”

“…In a survey at 103 high schools, 16% of the teachers and schoolto-work advisors responded that they had not received any formal safety training, and 36% indicated that they had limited opportunities to teach safety training because of their other work demands (Pisaniello, 2013). According to Brunette (2005), another challenge with regard to safety training for future studies to investigate is that workers are often culturally and ethnically diverse, which makes it more difficult to create educational material that is suitable for everyone (Brunette, 2005).…”