YOUNG PEOPLE AT WORK

1. YOUNG PEOPLE AT WORK Presented by David Cartwright FCII, MIRM, CMIOSH May 2014

2. agenda vIntroduction • Legislation • Responsibilities • Health and Safety Management • Workplace Hazards • Open forum

3. Definitions of young people and children by age • A young person is anyone under 18 • A Child is anyone who has not yet reached the official minimum school leaving age (16).

4. Management Regulations • Lack of experience • Unawareness of existing or potential risks and/or • Lack of maturity An employer has a responsibility to ensure that young people employed by them are not exposed to risk due to the young person’s :

5. FAQ • Is a specific or a separate risk assessment needed for a young person?

6. Fire Regulations • HSE

7. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 • The Fire Safety Risk Assessment should take into account unattended young persons.

8. HSE guidance • While there is no requirement for an employer to carry out a separate risk assessment specifically for a young person, if they haven’t previously employed a young person they should review their risk assessment and take into account the specific factors for young people, before a young person starts with them.

9. A separate risk assessment, specifically for work experience students, is not necessary as long as your existing assessment already considers the specific factors for young people. Furthermore, there is no requirement to re-assess the risks each time an employer takes on a new work experience student, provided the new student has no particular needs.

10. Specific Factors Employers need to consider whether the work the young person will do:- • Is beyond their physical or psychological capacity • Involves harmful exposure to substances that are toxic, can cause cancer, can damage or harm an unborn child, or can chronically affect human health • Involves harmful exposure to radiation • Involves risk of accidents that cannot reasonably be recognised or avoided by young people due to their insufficient attention to safety or lack of experience or training. • Is not restricted by legally required age limits on the use of some equipment and machinery.

11. Management Regulations A young person, who is not a child, can carry out work involving these specific factors if:- • The work is necessary for their training • The work is properly supervised by a competent person • The risks are reduced to the lowest level, so far as reasonably practicable. A child must never carry out such work involving these risks, whether they are permanently employed or under training such as work experience.

12. Management Regulations Employers must let the parents or guardians of any child know the possible risks and the measures put in place to control them. This can be done in whatever way is simplest and suitable, including verbally.

13. Management Regulations An employer must assess:- • The layout of the workplace • The physical, biological and chemical agents they will be exposed to • How they will handle work equipment • How the work and processes are organised • The extent of health and safety training needed • Risks from particular agents, processes and work

14. What does so far as reasonably practicable mean? Balancing the level of risk against the measures needed to control the real risk in terms of money, time or trouble. You do not need to take action if it would be grossly disproportionate to the level of risk.

15. Responsibilities • Placement Providers (Employers) • Work Experience organisers

16. Placement Providers (Employers) Work experience students are the employees of the work placement provider. They should be treated no differently to other people employed. The existing Employers’ Liability Insurance Policy will cover work placements provided the insurer is a member of the Association of British Insurers, so there is no need to obtain any additional Employers‘ Liability insurance for work experience students.

17. Placement Providers (Employers) What must be done:- • Simply use the existing arrangements for assessments and management of risks to young people • Review these before the work placement starts • If there are fewer than five employees a written risk assessment is not required • Avoid repeating the assessment of the risks if a new student is of a broadly similar level of maturity or understanding and has no particular or additional needs

18. Placement Providers (Employers) What must be done:- • Discuss the placement in advance with organisers and take account of what they and the carers advise of the student’s physical and psychological capacity and of any particular needs • At induction, the risks should be explained and how they are controlled, checking that they understand what they have been told

19. Placement Providers (Employers) What must be done:- • Check that students know how to raise health and safety concerns • Keep any additional work in proportion to the environment

20. Low Risk Offices, shops Less Familiar High Risk Construction Agriculture Manufacturing everything else Types of Environment Keep a sense of proportion

21. Work Experience Organisers • The placement provider (employer) has primary responsibility for the health and safety of the student and should be managing any significant risks • Take reasonable steps to satisfy yourself they are doing this • Rely on past experience, or pooled experience • Work with parents to ensure employers know in advance about students who might be at greater risk

22. Work Experience Organisers • Keep checks in proportion to the environment • Low risk environment • Environments with less familiar risks • Higher risk environment • Check that the employer understands about the specific factors • Check that students know how to raise any health and safety concerns

23. Work Experience Organisers • Visit unnecessarily • Second-guess the employer’s risk assessment or their risk control measures • Duplicate checks on employers Don’t

24. Health and Safety Management Procedures Paperwork Practices

25. Paperwork • Health and Safety Policy • Risk Assessments • Essential Documents • Health and safety information on a notice board……………..

26. Paperwork • Policy Statement • Employers Liability Certificate • Fire Action Notice • “What you should know” poster

27. Procedures • Induction • Supervision • Accident reporting • Training in particular risks • Fire evacuation • First aid

28. Workplace hazards Examples: • Fire • Slips trips and falls • Electrical • Display screen equipment • Hazardous Substances • Work equipment • Manual Handling • Workplace transport • Working at Height

29. Slips Trips The most common cause of accidents at work Cause about one-third of all major accidents and can lead to other types of accidents such as falls from height or into machinery

30. Site Conditions • Housekeeping • Fire Exit Routes • Obvious unsafe practices • Consider what is the “norm” CONFIDENCE IN MANAGEMENT

31. CONFIDENCE IN MANAGEMENT