Date: 03/12/2007
Do you know what your kids are up to?
No, it's not another moan about young people in hoodies hanging around street corners, but a call for parents to find out what their son or daughter does to earn their pocket money.
A large number of young people in the High Peak have part-time jobs ranging from the traditional newspaper rounds to the more exotic such as acting or modelling. And it was during an investigation into working conditions last year that Environmental Health staff from High Peak Borough Council discovered that very few parents know exactly what their offspring get up to when at work.
Commenting on the project carried out during last years European Week for Safety and Health, a Council Spokesperson said: "Our Inspectors went to the local newsagents and licensed premises where children and young people work. They investigated the safeguards in place by examining the risk assessments that applied to the work undertaken. By and large, the right protection was in place, but our officers were concerned that the employers hardly ever had contact with the parents of their workers."
Parents are encouraged to take an active role in their child's working arrangements and ask relevant questions of anyone employing their child. For example, if they go out on dark mornings or early evenings they can find out if high visibility clothing or reflective equipment is needed. Also, if they use their bikes, they should help the child check the lights work properly and remind them about wearing a helmet.
If personal safety is threatened, it is important that a young person knows how to respond properly. Also a parent should know who to contact if their child fails to turn up after work when they said they would. A good suggestion is for parents to choose to walk a newspaper delivery route with their child so that they can appreciate the dangers faced at first hand and discuss ways of overcoming them safely with the newsagent and deliverer.
Over the next month, the Inspectors will be out and about again, checking to make sure that the improvements made after last year's project are still in place.
The Borough Council is asking shopkeepers to make sure that their young workers are properly protected and encourage parents to be involved as much as they can.