TOTAL WORKER HEALTH ® TOOLKIT
Promoting U Through Safety & Health (PUSH)
TOOLS FOR YOUNG WORKERS AND EMPLOYEES
Young workers between the ages of 14 and 24 are at an increased risk for occupational injuries due to a lack of job experience, an inability to recognize hazards, the ongoing cognitive and physical development of youth, and a reluctance to speak up.
Young workers are more likely to be injured on the job and less likely to advocate for their rights. Promoting U through Safety & Health (PUSH) is a toolkit designed for organizations to reduce workplace injuries, increase healthy habits, and build communication skills. In turn, these outcomes will result in a healthy and productive young workforce.
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Download the PUSH one pager overview to share with your organization. Learn more on how your organization can participate in YourWorkpath Program to access the training program at no cost for up to 200 employees.
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*Our toolkits are continually going through improvements and changes to provide your organization with updated and relevant content. Our toolkits were last reviewed and updated on January, 2020.
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Online training for young workers
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Start the Conversation Activities
Social Media Prompts
"The content in the PUSH training helps us ensure that our staff is prepared to work safely and provides information about their rights as workers and encourages them to speak up when they have questions. We also value the health promotion focus of the training, because we are aware that on the job, healthy workers are safe workers."
Larissa Doty, Aquatics Coordinator, Portland Parks and Recreation
"Based on the results from the study conducted during the summer of 2013, we believe that using PUSH as a standard training for new hires is a wise investment in our employees. Not only does it enhance the training that we require for all workers, but the online format allows us to save time and money that we would otherwise need to spend on in-person training."
Barbara Aguon, Safety Manager, Portland Parks and Recreation
PUSH video evaluation focus group participants, real young workers
"The video was short but gave an empowering feeling to its audience. I believe every worker, young and old, should see this video"
"The video was memorable due to the use of humor in many of the sections…"
"I thought this video was actually pretty entertaining for being a training video…"
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73% of young workers that took the PUSH training agreed that they would recommend the training to a coworker
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68% really enjoyed taking the PUSH training
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69% said the PUSH training was useful in improving health and safety on the worksite
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63% reported changing one or more behaviors because of the PUSH training (at 10-week follow up)
Why Adopt PUSH?
Training has been shown to effectively reduce the number of workplace injuries. The overall goal of PUSH is to reduce the incidence of workplace injury among young workers by way of training tools specifically designed to address the distinctive needs of this population.
PUSH builds useful skills in young workers by addressing the long-term goals of reducing injuries and improving health with the added benefit of creating a more productive workforce.
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The PUSH toolkit was developed by Dr. Diane Rohlman, PhD. The PUSH Toolkit is disseminated in partnership with University of Iowa's Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest, one of then Total Worker Health Centers of Excellence funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Learn more about Diane and her research here.
The Science Behind PUSH
Evaluated with park and recreation workers, PUSH showed significant improvements in safety and health knowledge and was well liked by the young workers. The training was adopted by the City of Portland for their seasonal young workers.
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Evidence base: In a randomized trial, 141 young (mean 18 years of age) parks and recreation workers hired for the summer were given PUSH training. The PUSH training produced significant improvements in safety and health knowledge (small effect size [d] = 0.4*), though attitudes toward health and safety did not improve. The training was well liked by the young workers. Results are published in a peer-reviewed publication.
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Funding for PUSH was provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH; grant: U19OH010154)
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Scientific Publications
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Aryal, A., Parish, M., Rohlman, D.S. (2019). Generalizability of the Total Worker Health® online training for young Workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16 (4).
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Rohlman, D.S., Parish, M., Elliot, D.L., Hanson, G., Perrin, N. (2016). Addressing young workers' needs: the Promoting U through Safety and Health (PUSH) trial outcomes. Healthcare: Special Issue Occupational Health Issues in the New Millennium. 4(3), 55.
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Parish, M., Rohlman, D.S., Elliot, D.L., Lasarev, M. (2016). Factors associated with occupational injuries in seasonal young workers. Occupational Medicine. 66(2),166-167.
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Elliot, D., Rohlman, D., Parish, M. (2015). Focus groups move online: Feasibility of Tumblr use of e-health curriculum development. Journal of Medical Internet –Research Protocols, 4(1), 1-6.
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Rohlman, D., Parish, M., Elliot, D., Montgomery, D., & Hanson, G. (2013). Characterizing the needs of a young working population: Making the case for total worker health in an emerging workforce. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 55, S69-S72.
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