Affiliations: Université du Québec à Montréal,
CINBIOSE, Montréal (Qc), Canada | Institut de recherché Robert-Sauvé en
santé et sécurité du travail,Montréal (Qc), Canada
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Elise Ledoux, Institut de
recherché Robert-Sauvé en santé etsécurité du travail, 505,
De MaisonneuveBlvd.West, Montréal (Qc), H3A 3C2, Canada. Tel.: +1 514 288
1551, ext 220; Fax: +1 514 288 6097; E-mail: ledoux.elise@irsst.qc.ca
Abstract: Many overview articles, reports, book chapters and literature
reviews have examined the health and safety of young workers. These sources
discuss the relationships between the work conditions of young workers and the
various indicators of accidents and occupational diseases. Breslin et
al. [12,13] conducted two literature reviewsof quantitative studies to
determine which factors best predicted work accidents and occupational
disorders in young people. The present article proposes a review of young
people's occupational health and safety (OHS) factors (e.g., demographic,
individual, professional, organizational, temporal and operational factors) in
both qualitative and quantitative studies. Five types of problems were analyzed
in greater depth, namelyMSD symptoms, respiratory, allergy and toxicological
problems, mental health and well-being, alcohol and drug consumption, and
fatigue. This review likewise examines related dimensions that allow us to
adopt a more global perspective on this subjectby considering such elements as
young people's values, their knowledge and attitudes, safety practices in
companies, the safe integration of young people, and rehabilitation. A total of
189scientific articles were selected on the basis of certain criteria. These
articles came from refereed OHS journals published between 1994 and 2005.
Keywords: Young workers, health and safety, literature review
