New Online Course for New and Young Workers on Occupational Safety, Health, Wage and Hour Laws, and Soft Skills

New Jersey Safe Schools Program (NJSS) is dedicated to assisting  secondary schools in reducing occupational safety and health hazards  (S&H) in classrooms and at work-sites. In 2018, NJSS modified an  existing training for teachers on federal wage and labor laws to develop  a new training course for student and young worker populations. The  need for this student-oriented course on the introduction of  occupational wage, labor and S&H was expressed by teachers  (previously and currently enrolled) in our Structure Learning Experience  certification training. The course was beta-tested and piloted summer  2018 and launched September 2018. The goal was to expand knowledge and  awareness of specific S&H issues and to provide relevant resources  and information on securing work opportunities. Course topics include  wage and labor laws, workplace hazards, soft skills, and handling  harassment and discrimination in the work place. The course enhances  preparation of students and their ability to self-advocate upon entering  community workplaces by broadening professional knowledge of S&H hazards and six soft skills. Data analysis was conducted on post-module  assessments to gauge understanding of material, and effectiveness of the  implementation of module summaries prior to the assessment to determine  impacts on information retention and comprehension. Analysis of post-training evaluation data on student and teacher perceptions of the  course, and occupational S&H information presented, were also  conducted. Course perceptions highlighted effective use of videos, easy  to follow material, accessibility to students with special health care  needs, and user-friendly modular format. More details on course content  and results to date will be presented.