About RoSPA Young Workers : Who, What and Why?
RoSPA's mission is to enhance the quality of life by exercising a powerful influence for accident prevention.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is a registered charity established over 80 years ago and aims to campaign for change, influence opinion, contribute to debate, educate and inform - for the good of all.
By providing information, advice, resources and training, RoSPA is actively involved in the promotion of safety and the prevention of accidents in all areas of life - at work, in the home, and on the roads, in schools, at leisure and on (or near) water.
In order to give a clearer picture of some of the key understandings which inform our approach to safety, visit the RoSPA website at www.rospa.com
Developed and written by RoSPA in association with and originally funded by Norwich Union, this website aims to provide an online resource to anyone with the responsibility for young people in the workplace and to the young people themselves.
For many young people, the world of work is often a strange and confusing place. Inexperience and lack of trained judgement leaves them more at risk from accidents and damage to their health. By going online, we hope to increase interest in health and safety among the young, and provide vital information to those who need to be aware of the safety needs of young people.
This site has been produced mainly, but not exclusively, for three groups of people:
- Employers, especially SME's
- Work Experience Organisers, and
- Young people who are involved in work experience programmes or are about to start work for the first time.
Other professionals and those concerned or interested in the health, safety and welfare of young people, including parents and guardians, may also find this web site helpful.
Our Healthier Nation : Better health and safety for the future
The Our Healthier Nation document sets out how the Government proposes to save lives, promote healthier living and reduce inequalities in health throughout Great Britain. It is about working towards better health and safety for everyone for the future and especially for those who are vulnerable - children, young people and the elderly.
Our Healthier Nation established FOUR key areas of National priority for which targets would be set for improvement to be achieved by the year 2010:
- Cancer
- Coronary Heart Disease
- Accidents
- Mental Health
Accidents are a major cause of death and injury to our population and the greatest single threat to life of children (0-15 years) and young people (16-24 years). Their lack of experience together with risk-taking behaviour, especially during the teenage and young adult years, can be a lethal combination - particularly when it occurs in the environments of road and workplace.
The Our Healthier Nation target is to reduce death rates from accidents by at least one-fifth and to reduce the rate of serious injury from accidents by at least one-tenth by the year 2010. This would be a great achievement and could save up to an estimated 12,000 lives in total.
Accident prevention, because of its importance, is a cross-government concern. Many government departments are working together to achieve the set targets and local organisations and professional bodies are supporting the Government initiative.
The concern for the health and safety of individuals has never been greater than it is today.
This on-line resource is concerned with the reduction of accidents to young people in the workplace.
