SafeYouth@Work Event
Workshop on Integrating Occupational Safety and Health in the Merit Badge System of the Philippine Boy Scouts
Towards tapping various avenues for increasing young workers knowledge and skills on Occupatoinal Safety and Health (OSH), the USDOL funded SafeYouth@Work Project is partnering with the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) to develop a specialized OSH badge as part of the scout organization's merit badge system.
The workshop which was attended by the project staff, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines Task Group for the review of the Merit Badge System and Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) resource persons resulted to integration of OSH into the badge system in two tracks: a revised badge system with OSH components for the boy scouts or those within the ages 9 to 12 years old and a new OSH merit badge for the senior scouts or those within the ages 12 to 19 years old.
During workshop discussions, the participants suggested that scout categories or ranks should be taken into account so that the concept of "OSH in the badge system" will be effectively learned by the scouts. This suggestion was also raised in the context of the on-going review of the whole badge system to make it consistent with the K to 12 educational reforms in particular, the introduction of career-oriented tracks in senior high school which is expected to result to higher employability of new graduates. The participants recognized the value of OSH awareness and appreciated the fact that early training in OSH may prove valuable in the career development of the scouts. The revised badge system which integrates OSH is expected to be presented for approval by the BSP Executive Council by the second quarter of 2018, after the same has been pilot-tested and with the scout counselors having been trained on teaching OSH as part of scouting activities in the country. Funding for the activity was provided by the United States Department of Labor.
During workshop discussions, the participants suggested that scout categories or ranks should be taken into account so that the concept of "OSH in the badge system" will be effectively learned by the scouts. This suggestion was also raised in the context of the on-going review of the whole badge system to make it consistent with the K to 12 educational reforms in particular, the introduction of career-oriented tracks in senior high school which is expected to result to higher employability of new graduates. The participants recognized the value of OSH awareness and appreciated the fact that early training in OSH may prove valuable in the career development of the scouts. The revised badge system which integrates OSH is expected to be presented for approval by the BSP Executive Council by the second quarter of 2018, after the same has been pilot-tested and with the scout counselors having been trained on teaching OSH as part of scouting activities in the country. Funding for the activity was provided by the United States Department of Labor.