By now it’s no secret: young people are choosing to work in the trades. Motivated by social media trends from work-themed influencers and the numerous advantages that come with trades work, Generation Z—people born between 1996 and 2006—are on track to join the workforce. Dubbed The Toolbelt Generation in a 2024 The Washington Post article because more young workers are going into the trades, this wave of young employees is coming just in time. Baby Boomers are entering retirement age, which means many organizations are going to need to restaff over the coming 5–10 years. GenZ is training up, ready to work and poised to keep operations rolling smoothly.

This surge of new young workers has a lot of potential to reinvigorate workplaces and preempt staffing shortages. But they also bring with them their own unique safety challenges. You want to make sure you’re ready to protect the Toolbelt Generation, and that starts at the front door on their first day.

It’s not easy being green

While it’s tempting to treat every incoming generation as unrelatable, strange and novel, the fact is all new workers face many similar dangers. In their first year on the job, workers experience a disproportionate number of injuries compared to their more experienced coworkers. The same goes for workers under 25, which currently describes GenZ, and was also true for Millennials and GenX before them.

To illustrate this, consider these stats collected in the new guide Fitting in Fast: Making a Safe Workplace for New Hires:

• The insurance company Travelers found that 35% of injuries happened to workers who were in their first year on the job, resulting in over 6 million lost workdays.
• British Columbia’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulation found that 50% of young workers were hurt in their first six months on the job.
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that over a third of nonfatal workplace injuries happen to workers who have been with their employer for less than 12 months.
• Every nine minutes, a teenager visits the emergency room due to a workplace injury.

The solution, as proposed in the guide, is to focus on the onboarding process for all new hires. Getting the first 90 days right can set the tone for the rest of an employee’s career. And taking the initiative to welcome newbies is a great way to improve your overall workplace culture. Which is important when we focus more specifically on the Toolbelt Generation.

Talkin’ ‘bout my generation

Generation Z came of age during a time when ideas about identity, work-life balance, communication and autonomy all shifted. As such, the Toolbelt Generation has priorities that need to be recognized if you want to retain their employment and keep them safe. As indicated in a survey from UKG, 71% of GenZ frontline workers report that they might quit their jobs because of negative interactions with managers, coworkers or customers.

Psychological safety is a priority for GenZ, who statistically report the highest levels of burnout compared to other generations. They prioritize having a sense of purpose at their work, and prioritize personal time and flexibility over financial progress—the UKG survey shows that over half of surveyed Toolbelters would rather have more vacation time than a pay increase.

These priorities have implications for safety. Burnout causes sustained fatigue, which leads to critical errors responsible for injuries and deaths not just at work, but on the road. The National Safety Council estimates that 6,400 people die in crashes involving drowsy driving every year, and numerous studies have shown a link between work stress, burnout and traffic crashes among a range of occupations from bus drivers to teachers to healthcare workers.

Meanwhile, the fact that many would quit a job after a negative interpersonal interaction indicates that a poor workplace culture may contribute to human factors like frustration, anxiety and apathy more significantly with these youngest workers.

Ushering in a safety generation

In addition to ensuring your workplace has a comprehensive and inclusive onboarding program, there are a number of ways you can help transform your work culture to protect and retain GenZ workers.

Battle burnout – A new study shows that the average worker spends more time working than they do sleeping. Take steps to encourage exercise—physical activity is a known fatigue fighter. If your workplace offers flex hours, make sure your new workers are aware of how they work. And when it comes to any incentives you have in place, consider (if possible) offering vacation hours as an option instead of monetary bonuses.

Fight frustration – The GenZ desire for flexibility and aversion to conflict makes frustration a high-stakes game when it comes to keeping young workers working. As a human factor, frustration can be pre-empted with proactive communication. Make sure you’re doing everything you can to make your employees aware of changes in the workplace through toolbox talks and digital display presentations. And rather than assuming a new worker will want what their older coworkers prefer, be sure to reach out on matters that concern them, like their goals with work and their professional priorities.

Address ambiguity – Another benefit of clear communication is that it counteracts ambiguity, which is a multi-pronged threat to GenZ workers. Ambiguity thrives in situations where preexisting knowledge is assumed, and if a worker is conflict-averse they are more likely to do a task without asking for help. This can lead to processes being done incorrectly, and it can also put folks at risk of injuries or worse. Checking in with young workers by asking them to walk you through a task is an excellent way to acknowledge them as individuals while engaging in what they are doing and dispersing any ambiguity.

Engage enthusiastically – Demographic surveys and studies can only tell us so much about the people we work with, so it’s important to engage with new workers before acting on assumptions. Statistics are great for understanding broad trends, but when it comes to understanding what’s going on with an individual worker—from their expectations to the human factors they may be experiencing—the best way to proceed is by showing personal commitment through active engagement. Check in with young workers, ask them questions and engage them in storytelling. Getting to know people as individuals helps keep everyone safe.

The ingress of Generation Z workers has already started, and it is forecast to become a wave of change. And that’s a great opportunity to review and renovate your safety culture for the better. Take the steps to connect and protect these young new workers to play your part in raising the Toolbelt Generation to be a Safety Generation.