EDMONTON, Alta. – The Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) of Alberta says the trucking industry is among the top three industries when it comes to injuries.

Last year, 146,912 workers were injured in Alberta — 41,400 seriously enough to miss time from work, the WCB says.

Their numbers also reveal an unsettling trend: In 2001, more than half of the province’s workplace injuries occurred during a worker’s first year on the job.

Among injured workers under the age of 25, more than 60 percent of them were hurt in the first six months on the job.

In 2001, the industries where inexperienced workers were most at risk of being hurt within their first six months on job were construction, the food industry and trucking.

The WCB says the rate boils down to this: Every three and a half minutes an Albertan gets hurt enough to miss work for at least one day. Many times, the WCB notes, the recover time is longer.

Reducing injury rates among new workers is the motivation behind Heads Up, an annual safety awareness campaign directed at inexperienced workers and their employers.

The fourth annual campaign began this week and ends in June.

“The Heads Up campaign asks you to ‘spot the new guy’ and by doing so, you can help reduce the number of workplace injuries involving inexperienced workers,” says Rick LeLacheur, interim president and chief executive officer of the Alberta WCB.

“We all need to take action to effectively reduce these brutal injury statistics.”

The province-wide campaign includes radio commercials, posters in restaurants, bars, and worksites, and newspaper and employer magazine advertising.

The campaign runs until the end of June.