A new province-wide program for high school students could mean fewer people getting hurt at work.

Every senior high school student will soon take part in a symposium on workplace safety. The initiative is intended to reduce Saskatchewan's workplace injury rate. Details are to come later.Education Minister Russ Marchuk (CBC)

"By teaching our youth about workplace safety, we are preparing them to enter the workforce and be role models in other areas of their life at home, at school and at work," Education Minister Russ Marchuk said.

Each year in Saskatchewan 8,000 young workers are hurt on the job, and, on average, four are killed.

Blair Bachelu teaches welding at Miller Comprehensive High School in Regina and says the initiative is a step in the right direction.

"Unfortunately those statistics don't seem to change. We are obviously doing what we can, keeping kids informed, realizing that safety is everyone's responsibility."

Kieran Colibaba is a Grade 11 student at Miller. He thinks a focus on safety could be good. "Over the summer I worked construction in Winnipeg. Yeah, I worked on the new football stadium there so it was really cool what we did. And there were a lot of safety hazards there. There would be open windows that had not been put in and we would have safety harnesses on and stuff."