On April 1, 2015, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed SB 262 into state law making this landmark legislation a national first. This marked the first time ever that a law would direct labor and education to collaborate and provide workplace safety education in the schools. “Oklahoma set a national standard and became an innovative leader in the youth employment world,” stated Lester Claravall, Child Labor Program Administrator with the Oklahoma Department of Labor.
The Oklahoma Department of Labor and the Oklahoma State Department of Education will now be working together to educate students in grades 7 thru 12 about workplace safety. Both departments will be providing curriculum, produced by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) entitled NIOSH Youth@Work: Talking Safety. NIOSH is a federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injuries and illness.
“Many teens will be entering their first jobs this summer in restaurants, grocery stores, and offices,” continued Claravall. “But what most don’t know is that these young workers are twice as likely as their adult counterparts to get hurt on the job.” According to federal studies, an average of 200,000 teens under 18 are injured at work with 70 cases ending up being fatal. The studies indicate that a lot of the teen worker injuries will happen within the first few months of their employment due to a lack of safety training provided.
“These high number of injuries are now going to change, thanks to SB 262. We especially appreciate the wisdom and leadership of Senators Susan Paddack and Anastasia Pittman, Representative Todd Thomsen, and Latta High School teacher Stacy Oakley,” he concluded.
Claravall said that protecting the youngest workforce begins in the classroom. Teaching teens how to recognize and identify hazards will lead to injury prevention and safer working environments. Developing safer workers at an early age leads to economic development in the long run.