There is a reason that it’s called the Sooner State.

It is said it is better sooner rather than later. No one encourages procrastination.

[Image courtesy of Flickr user USFSWmidwest via a Creative Commons license] Providing worker safety education to future workers can be vital to keeping young workers safe in workplaces. NIOSH has taken the lead with a Talking Safety curriculum.

[Image courtesy of Flickr user USFSWmidwest via a Creative Commons license] Providing worker safety education to future workers can be vital to keeping young workers safe in workplaces. NIOSH has taken the lead with a Talking Safety curriculum.

And when it comes to real-life educational opportunities, the Sooner State has taken its nickname to heart, making sure that students learn workplace safety even before they start applying for their first jobs.

As if public educators don’t already have enough on their plates in caring for students and their educational needs, legislators in Oklahoma recently passed what was called State Senate Bill 262, which requires all school districts in the state to provide training about workplace health and safety to all middle-school and high-school students.  This is universal, regardless if the students already have part-time jobs or not – it is being sold as life preparation for after high school and entering the full-time workforce.

The entire Sooner State seems to be jumping on the back of a partnership between NIOSH and a single school district in Florida, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, in which seventh-grade science teachers in the district were to implement the NIOSH Youth@Work Talking Safety curriculum, which provides guidance in several areas about workplace safety for young adults who enter the workforce for the first time.

NIOSH’s agreement with Miami-Dade County is still in its early stages, but the Talking Safety curriculum is designed to address such topics as recognizing risks, controlling hazards, understanding workers’ rights and responsibilities, as well as effective communication of a work-related health or safety issue. A couple of these issues were discussed here in previous posts, empowering parents rather than school teachers to do the necessary education.

The law comes at an interesting time, when about 3,000 science students in M-DCPS are currently evaluating the curriculum, and NIOSH researchers will be working with STEM educators to incorporate this curriculum into their regular lesson plans, which may ultimately  reach out to about 17,000 eighth-graders each year.

 

 

While this curriculum can certainly be valuable, is it necessary for the schools to implement? Couldn’t parents and employers be the ones responsible for this education? Why would the state require its own government body (the school systems) to assume responsibility for this education? What if something goes wrong because a young worker was not properly trained, or failed to get a satisfactory progress grade on the material? Should the state government allow itself to hold some liability or responsibility? While it is a noble venture, I am undecided whether a mandate to school districts is really the best approach.

However, I have provided a link to the curriculum that you can see for yourself, and you can also take a look at details of the NIOSH agreement with Miami-Dade County Public Schools here. What do you think? Should parents and employers be in charge of educating their young workers about workplace safety, or do you think the public-school system is the best venue for this? Why or why not? I am curious to get your feedback.