There were 26 countries represented at the Mainstreaming OSH into Schools: Towards a Culture of Prevention meeting in Turin at the ILO training centre in Turin last week, and as I review the event, it has become apparent that Canada’s resources and expertise were very much in demand from other regions in the world. Some were developing countries looking for assistance in launching initiatives to address the needs for teaching OSH to students prior to entering the workforce. A number also had issues with child labour, an active informal economy, and increasing numbers of youth in precarious work that makes training and enforcement challenging.
CCOHS has resources to offer, in addition to support. Our programs, web sites, and databases are readily accessible. But, as I listened, there was also a real need for leadership and guidance by institutions and countries that have established regulations, standards, procedures and resource materials. We at CCOHS have a lot to contribute to the promotion of integrating OSH into the education curriculum.
I spoke of collaborating with educators at the early stages of curriculum development and the need to understand their processes in order to achieve a seamless integration into the lesson plans of teachers, instead of a distinct program requiring their time commitments outside their measured educational goals.
We have success stories here in Canada; in particular, and one of the ones presented here by Sue Boychuk, was the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s Live Safe! Work Smart! program. The results in terms of injury rate reductions over 10 years amongst teens (a 67% decrease) have been dramatic.
I also supported the concept of a mentorship program between developed and developing countries. Our resources and learning materials can benefit and pave the way, in a much more direct way.