Health & safety expert Pamela Patry weighs in on keeping your teens safe at work

Pamela Patry, a Health and Safety Consultant for Ontario’s Workplace Safety & Prevention Services and a parent to a working teen sat down with us to discuss how you can prepare your kid to stay safe at work.

As a parent, you know it can be difficult to get your teen to listen to safety advice. Pamela tells us this is universal — even as a health and safety professional, it takes work.

In this interview, Pamela weighs in on how parents can keep their kids safe on the job, communication tactics, and resources parents can access.

Q&A Interview with health and safety expert and teen parent Pamela Patry

What was your first job like? Is there something safety-related you want your teen to know, that you didn’t know back then?

Pamela: I worked in a pharmacy. The number one thing I learned in training was that if someone comes in, robs you, and leaves, lock the door. Even back then, the safety training was about theft, robbery, and violence. Those hazards haven’t changed, and neither have hazards in other industries. Slips, trips, and falls still happen.

For parents, you can pull from your past. The work hasn’t changed all that much, and the hazards are still the same. So, put yourself in your kid's shoes. You were 17 once, too. How did you react when you were a kid? Did you exercise your safety rights back then? What experiences with hazards did you have that you can tell your kids about now?

Do you have a lesson from when you entered the workforce?

When I was younger, I spent 11 summers working in children’s camps, running the kitchen. One summer, I was cooking for a summer camp, and I had no idea how to cook. No one taught me how to use a knife on the job. There was no training, I think, because the skills were thought to be common. But employers shouldn’t assume kids know how to use these tools.

Training your kids on common home safety skills can help them when it comes to work safety. If you take something as common as cutting the grass, give your kid hearing protection and safety shoes. As a parent, you expect the workplace to provide personal protective equipment (PPE), but you have to do it at home, too. This instills a set of expectations within your kid.

Being mindful of your actions at home can influence your kids in their workplace.

What can parents ask their kids before they start their first job?

Sometimes, you need to know what you want out of a question before you ask it. If you ask your kid about safety on their job without knowing the industry dangers, you’ll probably be okay with whatever answer they give, even if it’s wrong or incomplete.

You need to do the research yourself. What would you be worried about if you were starting a job in this industry? For example, if your kid is working in a store, violence and harassment can be a very real hazard.

In your opinion, are conversations effective? What else can parents do to get through to their kids?

I don’t always know [if a conversation is effective]. Sometimes, with easy chats, you can pull out interesting nuggets. But texting [for my son and I] is really effective. Or sending a TikTok or an Instagram post. I sent my kid a meme today!

News stories can work really well, too. I sent my son a story about an accident on the highway where the driver was going 150 km. Stories about real people can help get your point across.

The message’s medium can change, but consistency is really important. Don’t only communicate these subjects when they start something, like learning to drive or a new job. Always having that conversation, having it be continuous, is important.

The best conversations are sitting in a car. For us, uncomfortable conversations happen in the car. No one’s facing each other; you can look out the window while you’re talking. And you’re stuck together for the duration of your journey.

Plus, kids listen. At home, the conversations you have about your own workplace or your friend's workplace, your kids are hearing you. You can influence them by filtering good advice into your conversations to help your kids unconsciously or unbiasedly learn it.

It’s scary sending your kid off to their first job. In your opinion, what are some ways parents can deal with these big emotions?

Going in and seeing the work environment so you can visualize where your kid is or taking it one step further and becoming a patron. I introduced myself to my son’s manager and found that building that relationship with them was really helpful.

A manufacturing company I work with actually has a day for the parents of the kids they hire to come in. A safety person shows them around and explains the hazards, risks, and safety precautions they take. Then, the parents can ask all of the questions they need to. I’ve always found that very cool.

How can parents make sure their teens receive the proper safety training?

Try the Worker Health and Safety in Four Steps, which was developed by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. This meets the requirements for health and safety awareness training for workers required by law. It’s a one-hour, free online course that talks about workers' rights and what they actually mean. I did it with my son so we could talk about it afterward. It’s a great knowledge base.

What are some red flags parents should watch out for when their teens describe their work experiences, indicating potential safety concerns?

I don't know how many red flags teens will give us. They need to come from us, the parents. Go to their workplace! Then, you can talk to them about any red flags you noticed. Like, I went to your workplace and saw your coworker carrying seven boxes at once. Is this normal? Is there a better way to do this? Do you have a tool you can use?

What are the top three safety messages or tips you would want your own teen to carry with them as they start their first job?

1. It's okay to say I don’t know how to do that. Teens want to say they know everything. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to say no.
2. I’m here to help you. Time management and peace of life are so important, but kids are so busy. Take the time to have a conversation about what they’re doing. Work and life transfer over — how do you balance work-school-sports-social life as a youth? All of those components are happening at once; they may need help.
3. You want to do cool things, so don’t get hurt. You want to play basketball, go camping, go fishing, but if you get hurt, you aren’t doing any of those things. If you break both your legs because you were climbing up a ladder that you didn't know how to use, you’re not driving anymore. Your independence is gone. Get your kid thinking about what they won't be able to do and what they’ll lose out on if something happens.

Do you have any specific resources or organizations in Ontario you’d like to call out?

1. WSPS’ Small Business Centre. It’s geared toward small business owners, but parents can use these resources, too. Check out the Small Biz Safety podcast. It talks about hazards and what’s going on in safety industries, follows the media, and keeps you current on what’s going on. When you take a look at the resources online or listen to the podcast, do it with the lens of how will this impact my kid?
2. The Four Step Awareness course I mentioned earlier, do it at the same time as your kid!
3. WHMIS. Did you know WHMIS changed in 2015? Go back and redo it with your kid. And remember to just be a person with your kid; we don’t all know everything.