European Safe Start Summit concludes successful health and safety campaign

Five hundred delegates heard that across Europe, 18 to 24-year-olds are at least 50% more likely to be injured in the workplace than more experienced workers, and that behind the statistics are harrowing stories, of young people having to live with the consequences of accidents and damaged health for the rest of their lives, or dying when they had so much of their lives ahead of them.

The Safe Start Summit, jointly organised by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and the German Presidency of the European Union, was the culmination of the Safe Start campaign in 25 EU Member States as well as EFTA and candidate countries.

The Summit provided an opportunity to hear professionals, practitioners and participants speak about what has been achieved during the campaign, and how we ensure that we protect the workforce of tomorrow by taking action today.

According to Agency Director Jukka Takala, “There are some consistent and clear messages from the Safe Start campaign. The most important message is the success of learning from real-life situations by involving vocational students and young workers in carrying out real risk assessments to identify hazards and to find solutions. The solutions result in safer workplaces, and underline the importance of consulting young people about OSH because they have plenty to contribute. Another interesting point to emerge is the importance and the success of learning from peers.

“From the forthcoming report on mainstreaming OSH into the education curricula, we see that there is much activity in Member States at primary and secondary level. There are also many good examples form vocational education. But activity is much less obvious in university education. That is why the Agency has identified this for a follow-up project to be started later this year.”

Safe Start featured a wide range of engaging quizzes, interactive learning materials and events, including good practice awards and a competition to find the European Young Film Maker of the Year on a health and safety theme.

The European Good Practice Awards 2006 were given to acknowledge the positive contributions made to promote the occupational safety and health of young people.

Eight winners received their awards including an awareness programme for risk prevention in schools in Spain, a passport to occupational safety skills in Finland, online and web-based initiatives in the UK, Poland and Denmark, a telephone helpline in Sweden, and a training programme for agricultural students in the Netherlands – see Annex 1. There were also 17 Commended examples from 14 different Member States – see Annex 2.

Presentations were also made to three students from the Istituto Técnico Industriale Statale “Nullo Baldini” in Ravenna, Italy for their short film “Il gioco della vita” (“The game of life”) which was awarded the title of “Safe Start … European Young Film Maker of the Year” , and to three runners-up from Denmark, France and Poland.

The campaign culminated in the European Week for Safety and Health at Work in October 2006, with a range of awareness-raising activities being organised across Europe.

A Safe Start in Italy at Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome attracted over 5000 thousand young people, their parents, employers and teachers who tested their knowledge on safety quizzes, watched safety demonstrations and films, and viewed an exhibition of work through the ages.

In addition to the annual poster competition, the Agency’s Polish focal point organised a “Safe Start” Education Picnic to reach pupils, students, employees and employers.

In Greece, posters were displayed throughout the public transport network - buses, metro, tram, train and also main stations - in Athens and Thessaloniki.

In the Netherlands, a conference on the Safe Start theme was followed by a second event on noise at work which was organised as a follow-up to the European Week in 2005. A similar noise conference was organised in Germany during the Week.

Excellent websites were developed and launched in the Netherlands and Germany, and by many of the project organisers.

The Labour Inspectorate in Austria cooperated with schools across the country to make young people aware of OSH issues, and a counselling initiative devoted to the "supervision of young workers involved in dangerous work" was launched in companies.

The focal point in Lithuania participated in “Expo Aukstaitija 2006” for the first time and produced a booklet about risks and hazards on the farm in cooperation with the Labour Inspectorate of Poland.

The focal point in Finland organised a photography competition in 2006 on the theme of ”Young people at work”. Prizes were awarded to four works by young photographers.

To communicate the campaign message in Denmark, students were given a short talk with a few figures and then a Danish rap group played the campaign song, a selection of their own numbers and some freestyle rapping.

Everywhere the animated video film “Napo in Safe Start” was a huge success.

For further information about the Safe Start campaign see: http://ew2006.osha.europa.eu

Ends

Press enquiries:
Andrew Smith, Head of Communication and Promotion Unit, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work,
email:
tel: +34 94 479 43 60

or
Marta Urrutia, Communication and Promotion Unit,
email:
tel: +34 94 479 4376

Other enquiries: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Gran Via 33, E-48009 Bilbao, Spain,
email:
fax: +34 94 479 4383

Notes to editors:
1. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the Agency aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.

2. Good Practice Awards are part the European Week for Safety and Health at Work, an annual campaign run by the European Agency to promote a specific issue each year. The European Week 2006 was dedicated to the safety and health of young under the slogan 'Safe Start!' The campaign follows a decentralised model: the Agency coordinates campaign activities, provides information in 20 languages and via the campaign website, organises Good Practice Awards, a Video Competition and the Closing Event; national Focal Points in each of the 25 EU Member States promote, stimulate and organise activities at national level. The European Week took place from 23 - 27 October 2006.

3. An Information Pack on Safe Start is available in the campaign's online press office at http://ew2006.osha.europa.eu/pressroom/

Annex 1

GOOD PRACTICE AWARDS – WINNERS

‘Future competence’ skills improve apprentice safety - Austria
‘Future Competence’ is acquired through the interplay between safety, health, social and technical skills. While promoting risk awareness, young employees are also supported in their personal development. The project has seen a considerable reduction in the number of accidents at work among young employees since 2003, improved communications between younger and older employees, promotion of tolerance towards disadvantaged young people integrated in the team, and transfer of skills outside the workplace.

RHI A.G., Veitsch/Radex GmbH & Co, Austria

Further information:
Stephan Bayer
Tel: +00502134274
Stefan.bayer@rhi-ag.com

How easy can it be? Interactive educational software about risks in retail - Denmark
Many young people are employed in the retail sector and the number of work-related injuries for young people under-18 is substantial compared to other sectors. The training programme uses ‘informative stories’ (lærerige historier) to demonstrate the importance of safety, how work may influence daily life and how to act safely, with a section on ‘Good practice’ (Den gode praksis). The programme uses sarcasm and humour, fast photo changes, trendy language, and up-to-date music and graphics inspired by popular Danish music videos and comic TV-shows for the youth. Trainees have described the programme as: interesting, educational, different, funny (in a ‘cool’ way), and appealing. Branchearbejdsmiljørådet (BAR Handel) The Sector Work Environment Council for Retail, Denmark

Further information:
Rikke B. Ørum;
Merete Hansen
Tel: +4533746300
Info@barhandel.dk

Passport to health and safety skills: resources and competition - Finland
‘Passport to health and safety skills’ was developed with health and safety included for the first time in the 50-year history of the competition in the WorldSkills 2005. The project was carried out in cooperation with the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, and funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund and the Veto Programme of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. Running competitions and coaching young competitors was found to be an excellent method for promoting occupational safety and health. The competitions involved enterprises and educational establishments from about 40 different trades, and promoted cooperation between schools and businesses.

Skills Finland ry, Helsinki, Finland
Further information: www.skillsfinland.com

‘Got a good idea?’ College students solve physical workload problems - Netherlands
Young people with jobs in agriculture and horticulture are exposed to physically demanding working conditions causing risks to their health and safety. This project took the form of a training programme, and targeted agricultural students aged 16-20 years, and a competition generated ideas for technical improvements to tools and equipment, and improvements to the way the work was organised; and some were adopted subsequently by the employers. Making students look at real situations and come up with real solutions for workplace safety is gaining importance as a training method. Incorporating a competition element provided extra motivation for the students to get actively involved in solving problems. The approach can easily be applied to other types of workplaces or hazards.

Stigas, Netherlands

More information: Math Creemers,
T: 0031- 30-669 37 12,
info@stigas.nl

A safe start in the pharmaceutical sector - Poland
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has launched various initiatives to help young workers. This project involves safety strategy and induction to provide a safe start for new young workers and trainees in the pharmaceutical sector. A large proportion of the company’s employees are young workers. Attention to their safety is very important, and induction programmes need to be effective to minimise the stress of entering the world of work. Based on feedback from young workers, the induction process is well prepared, making their start in the workplace easier, less stressful and safer.

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals S.A., Poznań, Poland

Further information:
Zuzanna Kaleta-Michalak,
T. +48 61 504 110 873,
zuzanna.z.kaleta-michalak@gsk.com

’A Salvo!’ campaign - Spain
The “¡ A salvo!” (Safe!) campaign directed at primary education students aged from 6 to 12 years in all schools in Castilla y León was developed to increase awareness and attention to safety in children. Its objective was to create a new preventive culture by acting from the first stages of education to promote awareness that safety is socially desirable and must be defended by all. The campaign was in three phases: development of a range of teaching materials in a trolley suitcase; creation of a web portal and a publicity campaign including a travelling show using an articulated, full-length bus that covered the nine provinces of Castilla y León. This included multimedia, a plasma TV screen, game panels, furniture and display cabinets, and a 6 metre high, inflatable balloon where “Salva”, the mobile Mascot received the students.

Further information: María José Díaz-Caneja Fernández,
Tel: (34) 987 34 40 32,
marpaljo@jcyl.es, or Ana Hernández Pastora,
Tel: +34983548015, herpasan@jcyl.es

‘Facket i sommarland’ - Telephone helpline for summer jobs advice - Sweden
Young people face various problems in temporary summer jobs. Health and safety problems include late working as well as hazards in the workplace. Every year LO conducts union outreach activities among young people aged 16-20 years with a summer job / extra job. Young trade unionists answer questions that other young people have about their working conditions. During the period June - August 2006, the helpline had 5,489 contacts. However, health and safety queries were greater than the figures suggest. While the main problem the young person raises may be with wages, it often turns out that they also have a query about health and safety, which could range from temperature to bullying.

LO, Stockholm, Sweden
Further information: Markus Kristiansson,
Tel: +46 8 796 27 36,
markus.kristiansson@lo.se

‘WiseUp2Work’ -UK
‘WiseUp2Work’ is based on a strong partnership approach with employer and work experience organisations, educators, OSH professionals and young people themselves. IOSH - the professional body for health and safety officers in the UK - decided that the health and safety of young people warranted a significant initiative. The online resource forms part of the IOSH “Safeguarding the next generation” campaign, which incorporates their Workplace Hazards Awareness Course, and a free online resource called ‘WiseUp2Work’ specifically designed for young people, teachers/educators, parents and employers. It contains practical health and safety information and materials, and includes a free Workplace Hazard Awareness Course for schools and colleges. Website development involved consultation with stakeholders, education experts working with young people and young workers themselves. A focus group of young workers aged between 14 and 19 was created, and regular feedback and suggestions sought from them. IOSH (The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health), UK

More information: Laurence Dufour,
Tel: +44116 2573100,
Laurence.dufour@iosh.co.uk

Annex 2

GOOD PRACTICE AWARDS – COMMENDED EXAMPLES

Austria - OMV Refining & Marketing GmbH
Training in work operations in a 3D Simulator with interactive operation

Belgium - Arcelor, Axa and Manpower
Safety awareness for temporary workers

Cyprus - PHC Franchised restaurants public limited
Minimisation of motorcycle related accidents

Czech Republic - General Teaching Hospital, Prague
OSH training for medical school students through e-learning

Denmark - The Danish Meat Industry’s Working environment Committee (SAU) and the Occupational Health service’s Food Industry (Fodevare-BST)
Safe practice in the meat industry

Finland - Seinäjoki Vocational Education centre
Occupational safety on-the-job learning

France - Union des industries et métiers de la métallurgie (UIMM) des Pays de la Loire
Integration of young workers from the initial training to arrival in the company

France - Cite scolaire Jules Viette and Lycée professionnel Fernand Léger
Developing a prevention culture by integrating OSH in teaching, with tripartite appraisal

Germany - RWE Westfalen-Weser-Ems AG
A safety programme for apprentice training

Germany - BG BAU
Media for accident prevention in building industry apprentice training centres

Greece - FAOS
Accident prevention at school

Greece - DEMCON PAPASAVAS NIKOS (Explosive and conventional demolitions)
Training the young workers in health and safety standards of demolition

Italy -Del Giudice S.r.l.
Promoting risk awareness in children and young people; a collaboration between enterprises and schools / universities

Latvia - Holding company “Grindeks”
Preparation of schoolchildren, students and new employees for safe work

Netherlands - Via, comprehensive secondary school
KANSarme jongeren - information campaign to promote safe and healthy computing at school

Portugal - Salvador Caetano - Indústrias Metalúrgicas e Veículos de Transporte, S.A
Health and safety for young and new workers is integrated into both onsite induction and apprentice training and includes a strong emphasis on supervision.

UK - East Riding Yorkshire Council, Education Business Link and Impact Drama
Training package including a DVD for pupils under 16-years-old