In 1996, approximately 42% of 16- and 17-year-old teens were in the labor force at any single time.1 An estimated 80% of youths are employed at some point before they leave high school.2,3| The Facts About Young | Worker Safety and Health |
The Facts About Young
Worker Safety and Health
Through part-time employment, school-to-work programs, apprenticeships, and internships, teens are a vital and an increasing part of our labor force. For adolescents, employment can be a valuable experience: in addition to its financial benefits, work gives adolescents the opportunity to learn important job skills, explore future careers, and, in some cases, enhance their academic education.
But employment also can have negative consequences for young workers. Far too often, working teens suffer injuries that can have devastating effects on their physical well-being. And working too many hours can jeopardize an adolescent's academic and social development.
Although increased prevention efforts are needed to reduce occupational injuries among all workers, young workers warrant special attention for the following reasons:
Most teens in the United States work.
In 1996, approximately 42% of 16- and 17-year-old teens were in the labor force at any single time.1 An estimated 80% of youths are employed at some point before they leave high school.2,3
Teens aged 16 and 17 worked an average of 21 hours per week, 23 weeks of the year in 1988.4
Teens typically work at part-time, temporary, or low-paying jobs, often after already putting in a day of work at school. Twenty hours of employment per week during the school year combined with a full class schedule adds up to a 50-hour work week, not including homework or extracurricular activities.
Teens work predominantly in retail and service industries. Typical places of employment include restaurants, grocery stores, department stores, gas stations, and offices.5
Thousands of U.S. teens are injured or killed on the job every year.
No single data source provides a comprehensive picture of teen injuries, but the following findings indicate the scope of the problem:
Many working teens get injured.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that in the United States, 200,000 teens aged 14 to 17 are injured on the job every year.6 Among the most common injuries suffered by working teens are lacerations, contusions, abrasions, sprains and strains, burns, and fractures or dislocations. Not surprisingly, most injuries occur in the workplaces that employ the most teens—retail shops, restaurants, and grocery stores.7 What may be surprising is the fact that teens are injured at a higher rate than are adult workers, even though youths are prohibited from holding the most dangerous types of jobs, such as mining, manufacturing, and construction.8,9
Many occupational injuries are serious enough to require medical treatment.
Approximately 100,000 teens aged 15 to 17 visit emergency departments each year for work-related injuries. This figure compares with 322,000 teens aged 15 to 17 who visit emergency departments for all motor vehicle traffic-related injuries, including vehicle occupants, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.10
Approximately 70 teens died as a result of occupational injuries each year between 1980 and 1989.11
Work-related injuries can have long-term consequences.
Common occupational injuries such as burns, back sprains, and eye damage can cause permanent disability. In addition to injury, workplace hazards such as chemical exposure, noise, extreme temperatures, repetitive motions, and infectious agents can pose long-term health risks for adolescents.
Teens are injured doing legal jobs as well as doing jobs that are prohibited by child labor laws.
Federal child labor laws restrict the types of jobs teens can do and the hours they can work; some State laws are stricter than Federal laws (see Appendix A). Working in illegal jobs puts youth at particular risk for injuries. According to one study, 19% of all injuries to young workers treated in emergency rooms involved working in illegal jobs;12 this figure is 41% according to another study.13 However, laws alone provide insufficient protection: most injuries occur when teens are working in compliance with child labor laws.
Working too many hours is associated with social and academic problems.
Teens who work more than 20 hours per week are at risk for increased drug and alcohol use and decreased academic performance.14 Teachers report that students who work many hours outside of school are often sleepy and unresponsive in class.15,16 Young workers are at risk because they lack experience. Although a common perception is that teens get injured because they are reckless, teens injured on the job often have a very different profile. The positive characteristics of adolescents—their energy, enthusiasm, and desire for increased challenge and responsibility—combined with a reluctance to ask questions or make demands, can result in their assuming tasks for which they are either unprepared or incapable of performing safely.19 The physical characteristics of teens also make them vulnerable to workplace injury. Adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17, especially boys, grow at very different rates. Small teens may not be able to reach machine parts and may lack the strength required for certain tasks. Large boys may be given adult tasks simply because of their size without regard for their lack of experience and maturity. Injuries to young workers can be prevented. Groups who work together to create safer workplaces for teens can bring many benefits to a community: more knowledgeable, responsible employees; lowered workers' compensation and health insurance costs; and a safer work environment for everyone. Although the safety of young workers is primarily the responsibility of their employers, many others in the community also have a role. Schools, job trainers, parents, youth-serving organizations, health care providers, and the media are just some of the groups that can initiate or participate in a young worker project. The following section, Steps in Coordinating a Young Worker Project, offers guidelines for successfully developing and carrying out such an initiative. The final section, Working with Community Partners, outlines strategies for collaborating with community-based organizations to create safer workplaces. All recommendations in this guide were drawn directly from the experiences of the young worker projects in Brockton, Oakland, and Los Angeles.
As inexperienced workers, adolescents are not likely to be familiar with job tasks, workplace hazards, ways to avoid injury, and their rights as workers.17,18References
