Dear Representative/Senator [insert first, last name]:

I am writing to ask if you might consider introducing state legislation that, when enacted, will provide the tools necessary to teach young people about work safety and health and assure them with the opportunity to go home to their parents safe and healthy at the end of the day.

Consider: approximately 1.6 million U.S. teens (aged 15-17) work and every nine minutes a U.S. teen is injured on the job. And the statistics are even more sobering when one considers that on average:

§ each year 58,900 workers under the age of 18 are sent to the ER for job related injuries

§ 37 workers under the age of 18 die on the job, and

§ young workers are twice as likely to be injured compared to adult workers

How many times have all of us read or heard a story about such a teenager?

The legislation I am requesting would not cost the state of ________ any taxpayer funds. What it would do is direct the State Department of Education to encourage school districts to inform grade seven-through-twelve teachers about the importance of incorporating workplace safety training in their curriculum.

The safety and health initiative is called “Safety Matters” and is based on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) “Youth@Work: Talking Safety” foundation curriculum, which was developed for schools nationwide. This new initiative is a joint program of NIOSH and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and is a one-hour interactive teaching module and PowerPoint presentation targeted to students in grades 7 through 12 and can be delivered by educators and safety and health professionals.

The program is intended to raise awareness among young workers about workplace safety and health and teach them about topics such as:

§ Identifying hazards at work

§ Injury and illness prevention

§ Identifying emergencies at work and deciding on the best ways to address them, and

§ How workers can communicate with others when they feel unsafe or threatened.

I know first-hand about worker safety and health as I have spent my career in the occupational safety and health profession protecting workers. However, most of my efforts and those of other safety and health professionals are usually focused on adult workers. I believe it is time we spent additional efforts to reach teenage workers. Teenage workers who learn safety and health are more apt to carry over what they have learned to their adult working years.

This can all be accomplished with your assistance. Enactment of legislation that would direct the Department of Education and the Department of Labor to encourage schools to offer the tools necessary to provide this one-hour program. The program does not cost the state any funds whatsoever. The material is provided by NIOSH and AIHA, but legislation is needed to ensure that teachers and others are made aware of its importance and encourage following through.

NIOSH and AIHA hope to eventually have this program in place in all fifty states but we must start somewhere. The state of Oklahoma became the first state to incorporate the initiative in state law in 2015. Now it is our turn.

As a matter of background, NIOSH is the federal agency that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths. AIHA is the premier association of occupational and environmental health and safety professionals whose members play a crucial role on the front line of worker health and safety every day.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience so that I might provide you with additional information on model legislation as well as a copy of the initiative. After you have received the information and had a chance to review I will follow-up with your office so that we may move forward. Together let’s ensure that our teenagers learn they are not immune to injury, illness, and possible death while working. Isn’t it worth one hour to get them started on the right path?

Thank you for your consideration and efforts to protect our young people while they are on the job. Their future depends on it.

Respectfully,

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[Insert name and credentials here]