Safety managers must ensure that workers of all ages stay safe. However, millennials — those born between 1982 and 1997, and expected to make up half the world’s workforce by 2020 — pose a special challenge.
Because of their relative lack of seniority, millennials may be relegated to less desirable jobs, or to temporary assignments. This means that they may suffer from a deficit of training. To make matters worse, their lack of experience may mean they have not yet had time to develop a healthy respect for all the safety risks presented by their working environments. It’s not surprising that millennial workers appear to suffer more workplace injuries than other age groups. In hazardous industrial environments, the risk could be even greater.