North American Occupational Safety and Health Week

OSHA, the American Society of Safety Engineers and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering kicked off North American Occupational Safety and Health Week which aims to increase public awareness on the importance of workplace safety for young workers. The event, which began April 30 and runs through May 6, supports OSHA's Alliance with ASSE to advance a culture of prevention while sharing best practices and technical knowledge.

"This is the perfect opportunity to focus on our efforts to help our most vulnerable workers-young people-many of whom will begin their first jobs this spring or summer," said Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. "Together, we will address ways to provide youth, their parents and their employers with the tools they need to protect our next generation of workers."

Held each May, NAOSH Week is a joint venture among the United States, Canada and Mexico that raises awareness of occupational safety among employers, employees and the public. The goal is to focus the attention of employers and employees on occupational safety and the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace.

The NAOSH Week activities complement OSHA's recently announced Teen Summer Job Safety Campaign, a multi-year project to increase awareness about workplace hazards, and provide possible solutions to those hazards, for young workers and their parents.