Introduction  

Canada’s skilled trades shortage has negatively impacted organizations and consumers and has cost billions of dollars from healthcare expenditure and productivity loss. This issue is compounded by the high risk of disabling injury to workers in the skilled trades, particularly apprentices. While occupational health and safety (OHS) training may improve health and safety outcomes in theory, we must emphasize the appropriate delivery of OHS content to better suit skilled trades apprentices. It may be possible to maximize the impact of OHS training by first understanding how apprentices perceive their current training. The findings presented in this study improves on the current understanding of the potential links between a skilled trades apprentice’s perceptions and preferences of their OHS training, and their injury outcomes. Through effective delivery of OHS training, including considerations of apprentice preferences, we may be able to maximize the retention of health and safety information and contribute towards the development of a safer workforce. 

Objectives  

We aim to explore the relationships between a skilled trades apprentice's perception of their OHS knowledge and their self-reported physical and cognitive demands. This report also aims to explore the relationship between a skilled trades apprentice's self-reported functional limitations and their knowledge acquisition. Finally, we seek a better understanding of an apprentice’s preferred delivery method when learning about OHS.  

Key Findings  

An apprentice with a lower self-perception of their OHS knowledge was also more likely to report a negative OHS outcome. Inexperienced apprentices that have a lower self perceived knowledge in their OHS training were also more likely to report that they had sustained an injury over a 12-month period. There were also relationships between an apprentice’s self-perceived knowledge of health and safety, and the self-reporting of feeling burned out and overwhelmed.  

The program release type, age, and level of an apprentice influenced their perceived OHS confidence and subsequent relationship with injury and pain self reporting. Day release apprentices were 1.5 times more likely to self-report an injury, while younger apprentices perceived themselves as more confident than older apprentices but were twice as likely to self-report an injury. Older apprentices, while less likely to self-report an injury, were 1.24 times more likely to report non-injury related body pain.  

There was a greater self-reporting of cognitive functional limitations compared to physical functional limitations (e.g. walking). While apprentices with these functional limitations overall perceived that they were unaffected by them, trends indicated that these apprentices perceived themselves as less likely to be able to manage their own safety, and the safety of their coworkers. This may indicate that apprentices with functional limitations may not be fully aware of the underlying impacts of their functional limitations on their work ability, including their ability to implement their OHS training. Hands-on training was overwhelmingly preferred by apprentices as a means of improving the retention of information and improving the situational awareness that would otherwise be underdeveloped through traditional classroom lectures. A combination of receiving foundational OHS training through their apprenticeship training and workplace specific OHS training from the employer may improve an apprentice’s ability to identify and manage OHS hazards. 

Practical Implications  

We may be able to improve an apprentice’s OSH outcomes by improving their confidence in their OSH training. However, a confident apprentice is not necessarily a safe apprentice, as that confidence must be proportional to their OHS knowledge. Apprentices will benefit from receiving hands-on OHS training that is directly aligned with the most relevant workplace hazards. This requires that the apprentice receive not only foundational OHS knowledge in the classroom, but also more specific, situationally relevant training from their employer. If implemented correctly, OHS training may facilitate a reduction in workplace injuries and MSD development through the application of well-retained and relevant OHS knowledge.