Pennsylvania Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance (PennOSHS) Student Research Project

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Pennsylvania Department of Health. Division of Environmental Health Epidemiology
• Description:
  Many high school students have part-time work positions and may go on to accept jobs in their communities after graduation. In Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 41% of non-institutionalized civilians aged 16-19 years were employed in 2021, not including volunteer or non-paid internships (BLS, July 2022). Both paid and unpaid jobs come with occupational hazards that may lead to injury or illness. Young workers are especially vulnerable due to their lack of work experience and safety training (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, August 2022). The Pennsylvania Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance (PennOSHS) Program at the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) aims to prepare Pennsylvania youth to optimize their future workplace safety and health. One strategy to accomplish this aim was the facilitation of student research projects focused on occupational health. In Summer 2022, PennOSHS identified areas in the state where students may be more likely to pursue high-risk trade and blue-collar jobs and contacted local high school teachers/non-profit education organizations to gauge interest in participating in a student research project. For the project, each student was required to choose an industry and write a one-page summary on their selected industry's occupational health and safety (e.g., most frequent injuries/illnesses, identification of hazards and mitigation, and OSHA regulations) and potential community impact. PennOSHS developed support materials for teachers and students, including a comprehensive presentation on occupational health and safety, resource guide with reputable websites, and a project guide with predefined research questions and formatting instructions. A monetary incentive was provided to participating teachers. Four teachers at two trade and one public high school implemented the project during the 2022-2023 school year. Teachers attended a one-hour virtual workshop in October 2022 to review project materials. Following the workshop, teachers shared that they were enthusiastic to participate in the project and engage on occupational health issues with their students. Teachers administered the project to approximately 300 high school students during the remainder of the school year with a timeline that fit their curriculum. In May 2023, each teacher selected the most comprehensive and well written student project summaries and submitted them to PennOSHS. The following report highlights the schools and courses where the project was implemented, and the 12 industries students chose to research. Ten student project examples are included in the report. After project submission, PennOSHS administered a survey to gain feedback from the teachers to improve the project for the 2023-2024 school year, including the addition of an occupational health data component and flexibility to allow student creativity when reporting on findings Increasing high school students' occupational health and safety awareness equips the future workforce with knowledge to advocate for safer and healthier work environments. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Surveillance programs; Worker health; Worker safety; Occupational safety and health; Young workers; Safety education
• Source:
  Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Department of Health, 2023 Sep; :1-78
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  79 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071606
• Email:
  dehe@pa.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Performing Organization:
  Pennsylvania State Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20210701
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/259381/cdc_259381_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.43 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:85cac9a69bb1923b4df2285f904f089695a184ee834010433025e11ce44856c98498d8e6706ca5ec4c12b37a87279f371e8cea7da54a5c2d4cc3adeee6472468