Your kid just started a new job. But is their workplace safe? Here are 3 questions to ask

When Rachael Trant was a teenager, she started a job at an Ottawa pizza restaurant to help pay for university. The fact that it was family-run seemed appealing — she liked the idea of working for a small, independent business—but it didn’t turn out the way she imagined.

Two men who worked at the pizza shop (they were brothers) each harassed her. One, by always asking if she had a boyfriend and touching her without consent. “He always came up behind me when I was at the cash register and put his arms around me,” says Trant, who is now an Ontario teacher. “I was so uncomfortable but brushed it off because I needed the money.” The other brother was abusive towards her. One day, she stood up for herself. “I was working at the front counter at the cash register. He said something rude to me, so I stood up for myself. He didn’t like that I spoke up, and he slapped my face."

After that, she made up her mind to quit. She was being harassed and abused and felt like the only option was to leave. “There was no one there to report to because it was family-run and they were all complicit in the behaviour."

Obviously, being family-run doesn’t automatically make a business unsafe but it does bring up important questions about what does make a workplace safe and how parents can know if their kids have a safe and healthy job.

3 questions to ask your teen about their employer

What are their workplace health and safety policies and programs? Does their workplace have a violence and harassment policy? A policy about contacting them after hours? If a workplace doesn’t have any policies, it’s a sign they are not paying attention to the issues or health and safety law, which means they are likely less safe. In Trant’s case, knowing the pizza place had no violence and harassment policy would have been a dead giveaway that this topic wasn’t given any thought.
Do they offer safety training? What kind of safety training?

If the workplace offers safety training, it should be comprehensive. It’s not actual training to make someone sit alone in an empty office to watch a video made in 1980. You learn from actual trained instructors AND the people you train with, who can draw on their own workplace experiences. It’s helpful to gather in groups to hear about problems other workers have experienced or hazards they have encountered at work and learn how to address them.
Do they have a joint health and safety committee or a health and safety rep?

Depending on the company, they should have either a joint health and safety committee or a health and safety rep. At a small, family-run pizza place like the one Trant worked at, there should have been a health and safety rep. And that safety rep should have been a safe person to report unsafe working conditions to.

Use your secret weapon for workplace safety

If you’ve asked all these questions but wish you had more specific info about your child’s employer, try the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) Safety Check. With this hidden gem, you can look up an employer's safety record for free. It’s a great place to see the number and types of injuries in any workplace and compare different companies in the same industry.