The Health and Safety Awareness for Working Teens (HSAWT) program is designed to help teens entering the workforce develop an awareness of workplace health and safety issues. Through this program, teens are exposed to information and activities that introduce concepts such as workplace hazards, labor laws and worker rights, conflict resolution and sexual harassment.

Why This is Important

Teen workers are a vulnerable population with special needs, including different learning styles. In addition, when a teen is injured on the job, the productivity of the business is negatively impacted. Research shows that injuries to workers under the age of 18 occur at a rate double that for adults. The approach of the HSAWT program is to reach students before they enter the workforce with safety promotion and injury prevention strategies. It is advantageous for an employer to hire a teen worker who has previously been exposed to workplace safety concepts. An employer can build on this foundational knowledge with safety training that is specific and targeted to their industry.

Program Goals

The primary goals of the program are:

• To develop and provide Washington State educators with workplace health and safety curriculum materials and training that are based on the current best practices.
• To help support Washington State teachers meet state standards for students participating in work-based learning programs (e.g. internships, job-shadowing, and service learning).
• To determine the effectiveness of curriculum materials at changing teen attitudes and increasing student knowledge.