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With school ending and a lot of young people (aged 15-24) starting summer jobs or entering the workforce, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board says it is time to remind them about safe work practices. The WSIB’s #PracticeSafeWork campaign uses funny ads to remind young people about the importance of workplace safety and let them know the agency is there to help. The digital campaign, aimed at young people aged 15-24, runs from June 15 to Aug 30. Videos are running on social media channels like Instagram and Snapchat, YouTube, on connected TV sites like Amazon’s Prime video, digital audio channels like Sirius XM and on cinema screens across the province. Along with the videos, the campaign website practicesafework.ca is a helpful resource for young people (and their parents) to help answer questions they might, and should have, about workplace safety, such as:
- How they can play a role in staying safe at work this summer;
- What to ask their employers so they can avoid getting hurt at work;
- Their rights and responsibilities related to workplace safety;
- What to do in case of an injury.
“Every year, we do our best to remind young people that workplace injuries can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Our videos are funny but deliver a serious message: unsafe work practices can get you injured or killed,” said Jeff Lang, WSIB president and CEO.
The WSIB goal is to ensure young people don’t become one of the statistics. But if they do become hurt or sick because of work, the agency can provide wage replacement, pay medical bills and help them get safely back to work when the time’s right.
Statistics
- In Ontario, over the past 10 years, 97 young people (aged 15-24) died because of work, seven in 2025 alone. Also in 2025, approximately 30,000 young people were injured at work, with over 12,000 of those injured seriously enough to lose time from work;
- Over the past 10 years, the services sector has consistently been the leading industry for young people’s injuries, accounting for 40 percent of such incidents. Manufacturing (15 percent) and construction (11 percent) also remain sectors with a significant number of injuries reported;
- Jobs with the highest number of injury claims among young people include retail salespeople and sales clerks, material handlers, food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related occupations, nurse aides, orderlies, patient service associates and construction trades helpers and labourers;
- Sprains and strains continue to be the leading nature of injury among young people, making up over 30 percent of all claims. Other commonly reported injuries include cuts, lacerations, punctures, bruises, contusions and concussions.
The website also navigates to Safety Check, a WSIB tool that anyone can use to check out the safety record of an employer. It shows the number of injuries a business has in a year, the leading types of injuries for that workplace and much more.
The videos