Considering Sex/Gender in the Design of a Technology-Supported Work Injury Prevention Model Among Adolescents with Learning Difficulties

Adolescents with a low education level and learning difficulties are particularly vulnerable to work injuries. In Québec (Canada), these adolescents can take part in the Work-Oriented Training Path (WOTP) program, where they have the opportunity to develop general employability skills, by spending half of their school time doing a pre-work traineeship. This communication aims to describe, through a sex/gender lens, Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) prevention activities among key stakeholders involved in the WOTP, and to document their needs for new technological OHS resources. We used multiple data sources to collect school principals, teachers, and students opinions. School principals mentioned they are quite far from the students’ day-to-day OHS considerations, despite acknowledging that they have some responsibilities in this matter. They did not perceive any issues related to sex/gender and OHS. Teachers expressed feeling personally concerned by OHS, but they focused mainly on students’ attitudes and behaviors. They mention that they treat men and women students similarly, but they recognize that some workplaces have specific issues in terms of OHS (e.g. garage, hairdressing salon); however, it is uncertain whether they see any gendered trends in this observation. Male teachers seem more proactive in involving companies in prevention with their students. Finally, students can identify several hazards in their traineeship workplace. Male students tend to name a larger number of potential dangers, but only women name stress and anxiety as specific hazards. Men usually report receiving more OHS training than women, throughout their traineeship.