South-west building industry workers have spoken of the importance of clear communication when training young people and how it can help prevent future workplace injuries.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Dunkeld's Andrew Huf runs his own building contracting firm and said employers had a responsibility to explain tasks, address potential hazards and mentor young workers.
He spoke out on Tuesday, December 19, 2023 following the release of WorkSafe's south-west young worker injury figures for 2023.
It coincided with WorkSafe's new young worker campaign 'Would you work for you?' which aims to increase awareness of the challenges young workers face and highlight employers' responsibilities to ensure their safety.
"It's a good thing to show your employees you're looking after their welfare, you've got that in mind," Mr Huf said. "As much as we all want to make money they're no good to you if they're not on the job.
"It's an awareness and with the young blokes when they go to tackle an activity to ask them 'Have you really thought that through? Is that the best way for you?"
Mr Huf said clear communication when giving instructions was vital, so too was the importance of teaching young workers and leading by example.
"A lot of it is little tips and conversations," he said. "Are you comfortable with what you're doing? Are you sure that's a safe way to do things? A lot of the safety you need is the correct use of hand tools because you can get into a world of trouble if you're not using them in the correct fashion."
Mr Huf said working with young people was a balance between showing them tasks and correcting them to build competence without knocking their confidence while they were learning new skills.
"When you're younger it is generally persistence which will give you the results," he said.
"It's a marathon not a sprint... It's a new environment and quite a few of the kids sadly haven't got that mentoring from home or it's different to what work is."
Mr Huf said his carpentry apprentice Austin Cloete, who is now fully qualified, had more building knowledge than he realised and over the years it was a matter of building his confidence in the role.
Austin, 24, said while he worked in a supportive workplace, young workers, like himself, often lacked the confidence to speak up in a workplace.
"Communication is key if you want to have a safe work site because that can lead to taking risks doing things you didn't understand what you're doing," Austin said.
"All you have to do is raise your hand and say 'I need help and I need to understand what I'm doing as an apprentice'. It's not something you should fear. It's something you should feel comfortable to say I don't know everything. I'm not supposed to, it's a place for learning."
Austin is calling on employers to take the lead to discover how each young worker learned and whether visual, tactile or verbal instruction was the best fit.
"Most employers have been out of the game of being an apprentice for so long sometimes they forget what it's like to be an apprentice," the Hamilton resident said.
"It's nobody's fault. You get qualified, you do the job. You understand what the job is in your mind but the apprentice doesn't have that sort of knowledge."
