The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #43180

Raymond C. Sinclair, PhD, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226, 513-533-8172, Rsinclair@cdc.gov

We did a secondary analysis of data collected in 1997 as part of a large study of safety training effectiveness in the food service industry (n=4000+; young worker n=228). Our research question was: Do young workers perform differently than older workers on knowledge tests after such training? Using multiple regression methods, we analyzed the association between safety test scores and respondent characteristics such as age, education, length of service, and job location (front vs. back of the house). We found that education (higher) and job location (front of the house) were the best predictors of a higher test score. Age was not a predictor of test score. Since some studies show a connection between safety knowledge and safe behaviors, it may be that policies regarding young workers and what jobs they are permitted to do should focus on level of education rather than age.

Learning Objectives: After the presentation, the attendee will be able to

• List the demographic variables that were shown to be important predictors of safety knowledge
• Discuss the implications of the finding that education level was related to safety knowledge but that age was not.
• Describe some of the methodological issues that affected data collection in this large, food service industry study.

Keywords: Youth at Work, Safety

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.