When you’re starting to drown between employee concerns, payroll duties and helping your CEO -- HR Insider is there to help get the logistical work out of the way.
Need a policy because of a recent regulatory change? We’ve got it for you. Need some quick training on a specific HR topic? We’ve got it for you. HR Insider provides the resources you need to craft, implement and monitor policies with confidence. Our team of experts (which includes lawyers, analysts and HR professionals) keep track of complex legislation, pending changes, new interpretations and evolving case law to provide you with the policies and procedures to keep you ahead of problems. FIND OUT MORE...
Safety & Take Your Kids to Work Day

Nov. 7, 2012 is the 18th annual Take Your Kids to Work Day in Canada. The day can be a great educational experience for children and a chance for employers to expose kids to their industry and type of work. So the last thing you want to ruin the day is for a child to get injured or worse while in your facility.

In fact, tragedies have occurred on Take Your Kids to Work Day. For example, in 2000 in Ontario, two teens visiting a John Deere plant on Take Your Kids to Work Day were driving a two-seat utility vehicle when it hit and passed underneath a parked trailer at the plant. Both died.

So it’s important that you treat children visiting the workplace with the same care you’d use for any visitor to the premises. That is, take reasonable care to ensure that your premises are safe for children.

Here are some tips for ensuring that kids are safe this Wednesday:

  • Do a safety inspection of your workplace beforehand, with an eye toward hazards for youth.
  • If giving children a tour of the workplace, do a dry run to identify any potential safety issues.
  • Provide an orientation emphasizing health, safety and security issues, such as where kids can and can’t go, what to do if an alarm goes off, warnings about touching equipment or materials, etc.
  • Ensure students are supervised at all times, preferably on a one-to-one basis.
  • Provide the kids with ID badges and any required PPE, such as hardhats and hearing protection.
  • Have someone designated to troubleshoot any safety issues that arise.

If you let workers bring their own children to work for the day, require the workers and their kids to sign a consent form.

SafetySmart.com has more tips for safety on Take Your Kids to Work Day. Not a subscriber to SafetySmart’ Sign up for a free trial.