Ontario,Canada’s modelforstudentin- school safety education is grounded by a two decade relationship between the Ministries of Labour and Education and other key education organizations. The three major components of the in-class safety education model are: - Required learning: safety education is embedded in provincial requirements for courses and programs - Classroom teachers: professional educators deliver health and safety lessons to their students - Resources, reinforcement and support for teachers REQUIRED LEARNING: - Over 2 million students in Ontario’s 3978 elementary (K to Gr 8) and 913 secondary schools (Gr 9 – 12) are educated standardized provincial curriculum set by the Ministry of Education. This covers children and youth age 4/5 to 17/18. - Ministry of Education-developed provincial curriculum includes learning outcomes that students much achieve to successfully complete the course or program. - Since 1999, health and safety learning outcomes have been embedded in curriculum courses and programs where healthy safety lessons align with the course or program content. Examples: - Science includes topics such as safe handling of chemical and biological hazards - Computer studies includes ergonomics - Career studies and experiential learning includes workplace rights and responsibilities The Ministry of Education consults with the Ministry of Labour about health and safety content as course curriculum is reviewed and updated. DELIVERED BY CLASSROOM TEACHERS: - There are over 115,000 teachers in 4891 Ontario schools delivering the mandatory provincial curriculum. - Elementary and secondary teachers are in the right place at the right time to integrate health and safety education within their lesson plans and seamlessly deliver all course requirements, including health and safety skills and knowledge. For students, safety education has becomes an essential element of “what you need to know”, rather than an add-on. - Appropriate resources that support delivery of the health and safety lessons and allow flexibility in teaching methods, providing teachers with the tools they need to educate students with a broad range of learning styles. Teachers’ timely safety lessons can prevent injuries to their students today and also build knowledge and capacity in youth to support safe behaviors and decisions in their future personal and working lives. Outcomes: Workplace injuries to Ontario teenagers dropped 70% between 2000 and 2012 and from 3.9% of working youth injured 20 years ago to 1.1% today. WSIB and Statistics Canada. From 1999 to 2007, the lost-time injury rate for young Ontario workers (ages 15 to 24) declined more steeply than the adult rate, so that the two rates (young and older workers) are converging, one of the first studies that shows this in a North American jurisdiction.
Level of Education: Preschool, School
Lead Organisation: Ministry of Labour Ontario, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
