Did you know that a young worker's brain continues to develop well into early adulthood? 

Whilst young workers are capable of making good decisions and knowing right from wrong, their developing brain means that they are more likely to act on impulse and engage in dangerous or risky behaviour. They are less likely to think before they act, pause to consider the consequences of their actions and modify their dangerous or inappropriate behaviour. 

There is not much you can do to speed the development process of the young workers’ brain, however there’s a lot you can do to ensure their health and safety at work. 

Spending time on providing a comprehensive induction and training program, task supervision, and regular engagement and consultation with your young worker team (and your team as a whole) is an irreplaceable investment in the long term success of your business. 

As an employer of young workers, you have a specific duty to provide information, instruction training or supervision (so far as is reasonably practicable) to your young workers. To meet your duty of care and to ensure the health and safety of your young workers; consider the following tips: 

1. Induction – Provide your young workers with a comprehensive induction program. The induction should consist of health and safety policies and procedures, information on hazard and incident reporting, as well as information on workplace hazards and fire and emergency response. 
2. On the job training – Information and instruction does not stop after induction. Your young workers should be provided with extensive training to ensure they can undertake tasks safely and without risk to health. A process to verify a young worker’s competency at performing tasks safely is crucial. 
3. Supervision – determine supervision requirements for tasks your young workers undertake. The need and extent of supervision provided to your workers should be determine based on the risks associated with each task. Supervisors of young workers should always be available to answer questions and provide advice and immediately correct any unsafe work habits. 
4. Consultation – consultation with workers is a duty of PCBUs/employers under health and safety law. Develop your workplace culture so that young workers are encouraged to speak up about safety. Consult with young workers when identifying and controlling workplace risks. Inform them on how to report unsafe working conditions and encourage them to ask questions about safety if they are unsure. 

Download WorkPro's ‘Young Worker Safety’ eBook for free right now and start implementing changes to keep this demographic safe, reduce injuries and reduce workers compensation premiums.