The Working Conditions Act, the Working Conditions Decree and the Working Hours Act form the basis for healthy and safe working practices. All provisions contained therein of course also apply to young people under the age of 18 who are doing traineeships and have work-study jobs.
The Working Conditions Decree contains a number of specific rules about 'young workers' (under the age of 18). These statutory rules are necessary because young people - especially those under the age of 18 - are not yet mentally and physically mature. This means that they are not always able to assess dangers properly and that they need more rest time than adults. You can read more about the rights and obligations of trainees and young employees on the website rijksoverheid.nl (Dutch).
What hazards and risks do young people under the age of 18 face in particular? You can identify and assess this in the mandatory 'youth section' of your Risk lnventory and Evaluation (Rl&E, Section 5 of the Working Conditions Act). You then take appropriate measures to control the hazards and risks. The statutory requirements for the Rl&E for young people under the age of 18 can be found in Section 1.36 of the Working Conditions Decree.
In the youth section of the Rl&E, you must pay specific attention to:
The educational level of the young people and what information they need to receive.
The work that the company does and how it is organised.
The specific hazards that young people face at work because they have little work experience, are unable to assess hazards properly and are not yet fully developed mentally and physically.
How often and for how long young people are exposed to hazardous substances and conditions. Please note: there are hazardous substances that young people under the age of 18 are not allowed to work with at all (Section 4.105 of the Working Conditions Decree) and there are additional hazardous substances that are prohibited for children under the age of 16 (Section 4.106 of the Working Conditions Decree).
How the workplace of young people is safely designed and equipped
What work equipment and personal protective equipment young people are allowed and required to use.
How the work of young people is supervised by experts.
lf you want to offer students a traineeship or work placement, you must be an accredited work placement company. You can obtain this accreditation from the Foundation for Cooperation on Vocational Education, Training and the Labour Market (Samenwerkingsorganisatie Beroepsonderwijs Bedrijfsleven, SBB). Important requirements are that you offer young people a socially and physically safe environment and provide a practical trainer. The practical trainer must be familiar with the requirements of the training programme and be able to properly train and coach young people in the workplace. This ensures that they can perform their work in a healthy and safe manner. You can read more about the requirements for a work placement company on the SBB website.
What should your company pay attention to in practice?
Young people only reach physical and mental maturity around the age of 25. This must be taken into account. They do not have the same ability to assess dangers as older, more experienced employees.
In addition, young people are not always articulate: they will not always indicate when they do not understand or are unable to do something. This means that you must carefully check whether they have understood the explanation properly - this is the responsibility of the practical trainer and therefore of the company.
The practical trainer ensures that young people learn to work properly, healthily and safely and maintains contact with the school. The SBB offers a number of useful tips for practical trainers on its website.
Other colleagues who work with young people must pay attention to their health and safety.
The employer of the traineeship or work placement company is ultimately responsible for health and safety at work, information and supervision within the company. This also applies to young employees. In the Rl&E, the employer identifies and evaluates the specific hazards and risks for young people in the company.
The employer is supported in this by an expert, for example a prevention officer. This expert helps the employer to pay specific attention in the Rl&E to the hazards and risks for young people in the company.
Only by working together can schools and work placement companies ensure that students learn to work in a healthy and safe manner. That is why it is important for the company to maintain dialogue with the school, also when things go wrong. For example, does the student lack skills that the school should have taught? Talk about it. In this way, you can work together to ensure that the student develops into a skilled professional who works in a healthy and safe manner.
Everyone works in a different way. A good practical trainer must be a skilled professional with an eye for healthy and safe working practices. However, a good professional is not always a good practical trainer. Make sure that the practical trainer is in tune with the world of young people, is patient and sets a good example. All colleagues are expected to set a good example in safe and healthy working practices. Supervision must ensure this. Young people in particular are not always confident enough to challenge older colleagues on unsafe behaviour.
