The 2025 edition of the Workers Compensation Board’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Leadership Program recently kicked off with a record number of high school participants. The program introduces Grade 11 and 12 students to OHS principles and how they can contribute to their own health and safety at work, and the health and safety of their peers and coworkers.
This year, 25 students from West Prince to Souris, and places in between, will take part in the program which runs February to May 2025. With the support of the WCB’s Youth Education Consultant, students are tasked with organizing and promoting three activities to introduce and raise awareness about OHS to their peers. The program wraps up with students taking part in the WCB’s annual Workplace Health and Safety Conference on May 6, 2025, in Charlottetown.
“The goal of the program is to support young workers as they enter the workforce, to share the importance of health and safety at work and demonstrate how they can be a role model at any age,” said Danny Miller, the WCB’s Director of Occupational Health and Safety. “What they learn and share while taking part in this program will serve them and their peers now, and well into the future.”
Many high school students work summer jobs or work throughout the school year. The WCB encourages them to:
- Bring their voice to work, to become comfortable speaking up.
- Learn about the hazards in their workplace and what to do about them.
- Get the training they need and ask for training if it isn’t provided.
- Know that their employer is there to help.
WCB materials for young workers and their employers: https://wcb.pe.ca/Workplace/WhatYouDontKnow
The WCB wishes to thank the following schools, the Public Schools Branch and the Commission scolaire de langue fançaise for supporting the OHS Leadership Program. From east to west: Souris Regional School, Montague Regional High School, École François-Buote, Grace Christian School, Colonel Gray Senior High School, Charlottetown Rural Senior High School, Bluefield Senior High School, Kinkora Regional High School, Kensington Intermediate Senior high School, École-sur-Mer, Three Oaks Senior High School, École Évangéline and Westisle Composite High School.
Back L-R:
Carley Blanchard, Fiona Farrell, Kayce Midgley, Delphine Corney, Eleanor Wooten, Carlee Burke, Charlotte Macnutt-Lawson, Lucy Tentaglou, Amitis Hajmaghani, Emma MacDougall, Luke Brosha, Ariel Wu, Ava-Marie Jendrick-Shaw, Erich Taan, Elisha Collins
Front L-R:
Caleb Cheverie, Muireann McGuire, Louaï Hadjadj, Brooke Gallant, Feb Reyes, Leanne Yorke, Emma Harris.
More info: WCB PEI