More young workers are being injured this year than last year, says the head of the territory's workers' compensation board.

Valerie Royle, president and CEO of the Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board (WCB), said this morning young people 25 and under injured in the territory make up 239 of the 1,295 people reported to be hurt on the job this year.

'The number of young workers reporting injury is up by 20 per cent over last year's numbers,' she told a news conference.

Royle said the number of reported injuries in the territory is rivalling last year's figures, at 1,984, with some sectors of the economy showing improvement and others showing worse safety records than last year.

She said industries showing improvement include building construction, short-haul trucking and wilderness tourism.

Among the industries showing a worse safety record are retail sales, and restaurants and caterers.

'Many of their employees are young people, and it's their first job,' Royle said.

Rachel Parks, executive director of Bringing Youth Towards Equality, said she found the increase in young people getting injured surprising.

'We can bring that down,' she said.

Parks said she noticed an increased awareness in youth about workplace safety in recent times, which may be leading to more injury reporting as opposed to a higher injury rate.

She said she felt it's important for all young people to know their rights in the workplace and to understand they have the right to say no to unsafe situations.

'Proceed with caution. You don't always have to do what you're being told.

'Youth need to be educated, they need to be sure that their employers are setting them up for success,' Parks said.

'If they're being put into unsafe situations, they're not being set up for success.'

According to the WCB, injury rates in 2007 have varied according to gender and age.

This year, according to the WCB, 839 people reporting injuries were men, 417 were women and 39 people did not report their gender.

The ages of those reporting injuries include:

239 under 25;

256 people between 25 and 34;

266 people between 35 and 44;

336 people between 45 and 54;

ï155 people between 55 and 64;

24 over the age of 65; and

19 where the age has not been determined.

Royle said the majority of injuries being reported were traumatic injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints, 588, followed by open wounds, 220, and surface wounds and bruises, 213.

The majority of causes of injuries reported, she added, were being struck by an object, 294, over-exertion, 197, and slips, trips and falls, 178.

Royle said the body part most affected by workplace injury was the back, 208 reports, followed by finger(s), 181, and then the face, 116.

According to the WCB, injury rates varied by industry, including:

Yukon government at 320;

retail sales at 102;

building construction at 89;

hotels, motels and cabarets at 53;

diamond drilling at 52;

vehicle sales or service at 48;

restaurants at 46;

exploration at 45;

first nations at 42;

homes for children or seniors at 32;

welding at 27;

lumber yards at 25; and

long-haul trucking at 21.

Royle said the WCB continues to work with the Yukon Northern Safety Network and territorial employers to spread education and bring the numbers down.

She said the WCB would not be naming the businesses with the worst safety records until after they had a chance to clean up their act.

'Many businesses, in fairness, don't understand the extent of the injuries they have.

'If they have 10 injuries and they think that's the norm, then they don't think that they have an issue,' she said.

She said strategies in bringing injury numbers down include providing incentives to improve safety, including step-by-step guidelines on how to fix the problem.

'After that, if we have employers who are not performing, then I think that's when we come to the point where we may have to start naming names,' she said.