Record number of high schoolers participate in PEI’s OHS leadership program
February 7, 2025
By Brandi Cowen
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, and Elisha Collins.
Front L-R: Caleb Cheverie, Muireann McGuire, Louaï Hadjadj, Brooke Gallant, Feb Reyes, Leanne Yorke, and Emma Harris.
The 2025 edition of Prince Edward Island’s Workers Compensation Board’s (WCB) 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 these principles can contribute to their health and safety and the health and safety of their peers and coworkers, in the workplace.
This year, 25 students will take part in the program, which runs from February through May. 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 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 has also prepared materials for young workers and their employers, available at https://wcb.pe.ca/Workplace/WhatYouDontKnow.