Learning intentions
- Recognise common hazards in different workplaces
- Know that workers and employers both have safety responsibilities
- Practise speaking up about a safety concern
You will need
- Workplace scene descriptions (on the worksheet)
- Your state's work health and safety regulator website for reference
- The worksheet
Lesson steps
- 5 min
Why it matters
Explain that young and new workers may not know what is normal at a new workplace, so asking questions is part of being safe.
- 15 min
Spot the hazard
In groups, students read the workplace scenes on the worksheet (a cafe kitchen, a building site, a shop storeroom, an office) and list the hazards they notice.
- 10 min
Who does what
Discuss: what should the employer do, and what should the worker do? Point students to their state's work health and safety regulator for official information.
- 10 min
Speak up role play
In pairs, one student plays a new worker who notices something unsafe; the other plays the supervisor. Swap roles.
- 5 min
Exit ticket
Students write one thing they will do on their first day of work experience to stay safe.
Adapting it
Use pictures of real workplaces your students know. Keep role plays short and scripted for students who are anxious about speaking.
Going further
Students check the induction checklist for their work experience placement and write two questions to ask on day one.
Student worksheet
Safe at work
Name: Class:
Hazards in the cafe kitchen
Hazards on the building site
Hazards in the shop storeroom
Hazards in the office
What the employer should do
What I should do
What I would say if something felt unsafe
Workplace scenes
- Cafe kitchen: the floor near the dishwasher is wet, a knife has been left on the edge of the bench, and a new worker is asked to empty the hot oil from the fryer on their first shift.
- Building site: a ladder is leaning on a wall with nobody holding it, there is no sign at the gate, and a worker is not wearing a hard hat or safety boots.
- Shop storeroom: heavy boxes are stacked above head height, the fire exit is blocked by a trolley, and a worker is lifting a carton by bending at the waist.
- Office: a power cord runs across the walkway, a worker has been at the screen for hours without a break, and the chair cannot be adjusted.