Introduction The United States Department of Labour (USDOL)-funded SafeYouth@Work Project aims to promote the safety and health of young workers on the job, with a particular focus on those aged 15–24. Working with key stakeholders, the project works to build tools and capacity to better protect young workers and to sustain a culture of OSH prevention in three ‘pilot’ countries – Myanmar, the Philippines and Viet Nam.

Among its core objectives, the project seeks to increase knowledge and awareness of the particular OSH hazards and risks faced by young workers. The Project implemented an OSH KAB survey in the pilot countries in late 2016/early 2017. This presentation will describe the KAB study conducted in selected sectors in Myanmar, the Philippines and Viet Nam; the challenges in implementing the survey, key findings, and how the study findings could guide policymakers and stakeholders in building a sustainable culture of OSH prevention.

Methods Exploratory sequential mixed methods.

Result A well-designed KAB survey can help an OSH project to plan, implement, evaluate and improve its work. A KAB survey gathers information about what respondents know about a subject – here, OSH – as well as how they think employers, labour officials and others should respond to OSH issues, and what actions they take or fail to take related to OSH.

Discussion A KAB survey on OSH can identify knowledge gaps, beliefs, or patterns that may lead to a better understanding of the challenges to improving OSH compliance. A KAB survey can reveal key factors influencing stakeholder attitudes and behaviour on OSH, reasons for those beliefs, and explain why people engage in certain workplace behaviours. An OSH KAB study can also assess communication tools, platforms and messages to drive OSH prevention. KAB studies can therefore identify needs, problems and barriers in effective OSH project delivery, and identify potential approaches to improving the quality and impact of national OSH system functioning.