© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Mieke Koehoorn 1,2,3, Curtis Breslin 3, Peter Smith 3, Fan Xu 4 1 School of Population and Public Health, UBC 2 School of Environmental Health, UBC 3 Institute for Work & Health, Toronto 4 Centre for Health Services and Policy Research Survey of Work and Work Injuries among High School Students in BC ( and longer term health consequences of work injuries among youth)

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Young Workers 17-year old fast food worker: The oven mitts that we use to remove hot trays from the oven had huge holes in them. When I told my supervisor about them he told us to put plastic bags inside the mitts. Excerpt from Protecting Young Workers: WorkSafeBC Focus Report

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Survey on Work & Injuries Objectives To investigate differences in rates by demographic, work and geographic characteristics To estimate work hours for BC high school students/exposure time To estimate self-reported rates of work injuries

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Cross sectional survey, January to June 2006 – Tobacco use/dependence survey – School of Nursing, UBC Paper/pencil and web-based Secondary schools in 5 regional areas of BC (urban, rural and remote) Youth aged years, Grades 7 to 12 Survey Strategy

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Survey Questions on Work Did you work for pay during the past 12 months? What type of work did you do for pay? Thinking about this past July and August, how many weeks did you work for pay? Usual hours per week? Thinking about this past September to December, how many weeks did you work for pay? Usual hours per week?

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Survey Questions on Injuries What was the most serious injury that you had on the job in the past 12 months? Did you report the injury at work? Were you injured badly enough that you needed to miss work or school for at least one day? Had to go to a doctor, nurse or hospital? Did you receive money from workers’ compensation for your injury?

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Study Population Total Number of Respondents 8,225 students (90% response rate)  Grades 7-12, aged years 7,997 students (97.2%)  Working Population 4,293 students (53.7%) (3083 Formal Worksites (71.8%)  Reported Hours and Weeks of Work 3,513 (81.8% of workers)

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Comparisons Labour Force Survey year olds Yes, to employed last week Jul and Aug: 46.8% Sept to Dec: 40.9%

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Reported Type of Paid Jobs %

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Comparisons BC Stats (15-19 yrs) (47%) (11%) (12%) (6%)

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Hours and Weeks of Work All Workers (n=4293) Formal Worksites Only (n=3083) WeeksHrs/WkWeeksHrs/Wk School Year (max 16) Summer (max 8)

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Comparisons Labour Force Survey BC Teens Only year olds 9.9 hours at main job during school 19.4 hours at main job during the summer

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Work-related Injuries Working Population 4,293 students  Self-reported Work Injury, Past year 517 students (12.0%) Injury Resulted in Absence 141 students (3.3%) Workers’ Compensation 29 students (0.68%) Injury Required Health Care 158 students (3.7%) Reported Injury at Work 263 students (6.1%)    

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Types of Reported Work Injuries

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Work-related Injury Rates OverallFemale Grade 10Grade 11 P. George East Van. West Van. Male Reported HealthCare Absence Compensated HC + Absence All Workers Formal Worksites Injuries per 100 FTEs

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Comparisons Minnesota High School Survey (Parker 1994) year olds Reportable Injuries: 30 injuries/100 FTEs CCHS (2006) year old, BC 8.4 injuries per 100 workers BC Workers Compensation Claims, year olds Lost Time Claims 3.5 claims per 100 FTEs

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Work-related Injury Rates OverallFemale Grade 10Grade 11 P. George East Van. West Van. Male Reported HealthCare Absence Compensated yrs yrs

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia year olds, ON and BC Comparison SURVEY OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ONTARIO I TotalYes to WorkFormal Work 3 Odd Jobs * Other Work * (n)% of working total Survey Sample1318 (100%)52.9%12.5% 44.3%23.2% Male645 (100%)53.0%17.8% 41.1% 26.6% Female673 (100%) 52.8% 7.5%47.3% 20.0% Mean Hours/wk8.31 hrs (7.1, 9.5)9.23 hrs (6.6, 11.9)5.12 hrs (4.6, 5.6)4.22 hrs (3.5, 4.9) SURVEY OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 2 TotalYes to WorkFormal WorkOdd JobsOther Work (n)% of working total Survey Sample2788 (100% )41.5%11.8%31.7%14.4%) Male1356 (100%)40.5%13.8%28.5%13.4% Female1432 (100%)42.3%9.9%34.7%15.3% Mean Hours/wk8.79 hrs (8.2, 9.4)11.60hrs(10.3, 12.9)8.94 hrs (7.9, 9.9) 7.92 hrs (7.3, 8.5)

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia year olds, ON and BC Comparison Yes to Work Injury Type of Work ON BC Formal Work8.6%. (4.5, 8.9)5.5% (3.5, 8.5%) Odd Jobs6.7%, (3.7, 11.8)3.6% (2.6, 5.1%) Other Work12.1%, (6.8, 20.6)3.5% (2.1, 5.8%) Gender Male5.6% (3.1, 10.0)5.3% (3.7, 7.5%) Female6.3% (3.4, 11.4)2.0% (1.1, 3.4%) Age (years) % (6.3, 20.0)3.5% (0.5, 20.8%) 134.3% (1.4, 12.5)3.1% (1.9, 5.2%) 144.8% (2.6, 8.7)3.8% (2.6, 5.5%)

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia 113 students reported ‘excessive’ wks of work (>8 in the summer and greater than 16 wks in the fall) 780 students reported weeks but not hours or vice versa; 200 students indicate work/occupation but no weeks or hours Formal and informal work… 598 students reported ‘other occupation’ Challenges

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Longer Term Health Consequences Trajectories of Health Care (annual GP Visits) for FEMALE (15-24 years) Injured Workers and Matched Controls for 1-year Windows Pre- and Post Injury/Comparison Date Injured WorkersMatched Controls

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Longer Term Health Consequences Trajectories of Health Care Utilization for MALES Injured WorkersMatched Controls

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Next Steps NA Young Worker Symposium –sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the US and the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation /in Canada –bring together a diverse group of scholars and practitioners from both countries to update and synthesize their understanding of the benefits and risks of youth employment and to set an agenda for future scientific and programmatic directions throughout the US and Canada.

© Institute for Work & Health University of British Columbia Peter Smith and Curtis Breslin, Institute for Work & Health and University of Toronto Fan Xu, UBC Joy Johnson, School of Nursing, UBC Pam Ratner, School of Nursing, UBC Jean Shoveller, Health Care & Epidemiology, UBC Rochelle Tucker, Research Coordinator Participating High Schools and Students Acknowledgements