Young Worker Safety Resource Center

1. Young Worker Safety Resource Center Why is Job Health and Safety Training Important for Teens?

2. Why do teens work? • The Number One Answer: MONEY Paycheck Pay to the order of: Joe Teen Worker Amount: $ 120.00 For 20 hours Other Reasons • Work experience • Sense of independence • Parents’ influence

3. Most teens work before they’re 18. 80% of teens report that they’ve held jobs before completing high school 15- to 17-year-olds with jobs work an average of 17 hours per week during school months and 23 hours per week during summer months

4. Where do teens work?

5. Teens are injured at higher rates than adults: Every year 200,000 teens are injured on the job. 100,000 15- to 17-year-olds visit the emergency room for work-related injuries. 70 teens are killed on the job each year. :06 A teen is injured every six minutes on the job.

6. Do you know a teen who has been injured? Share Selected Youth Worker Stories Share Participant Stories

7. What types of injuriesdo teens experience?

8. Most common types of injuries sustained by teens: Cuts 34% Contusions 18% Sprains 16% Burns 12% Fractures 4%

9. Where are teens injured? Where Teens Work

10. Teens get injured doing common yet dangerous tasks: Using cutting tools and/or non-powered hand tools Handling hot liquids and grease Working around cooking appliances Continuous manual lifting of heavy objects

11. (continued)Teens get injured doing common yet dangerous tasks: Operating tractors or heavy machinery Driving or working around motor vehicles Working near electrical hazards while using ladders, poles, etc. Working late at night or alone

12. What specific hazards do teens encounter at work?

13. Common workplace hazards: Restaurants meat slicers knives hot grease slippery floors hot surfaces Grocery & Retail Stores case-cutters heavy or awkward lifting slippery floors repetitive movements (i.e., using price gun, cash register, etc.)

14. Common workplace hazards: Agriculture dangerous machinery (e.g., forklifts, tractors, packing machinery) heavy or awkward lifting pesticides falls from ladders Gas Stations temperature extremes working alone gasoline fumes

15. Why are teens at higher risk for injury than adults?

16. Why teens are at higher risk for injury than adults: Low-pay, high turnover jobs Inexperience Lack of training and supervision Want to be responsible and appear competent Physical development

17. Teen workers often do not get the training they need: Studies and surveys reveal that young workers do not receive adequate health and safety training at work Youth are often assigned potentially dangerous tasks for which they receive no training

18. Teens who work longhours may experience: Lack of sleep Difficulty staying awake in class and less time for homework Negative effects on learning Moodiness and difficulty in controlling emotions Increased use of stimulants, e.g. caffeine, nicotine

19. Some teens work in violation of labor laws: WORK ALERT Most states require Teens to have a valid permit to work. Schools, employers, and parents are part of the permit process. For too many hours In prohibited hazardous occupations Without permits

20. Job readiness professionals can help educate and protect teens: Learn about job safety Provide training to teens Create forums for discussion Serve as a resource and advocate Provide information to parents

21. Ways educators can work with employers: Provide information to employers about labor laws Discuss on-site health and safety training for youth Report and follow-up on unsafe conditions

22. The Young Worker SafetyResource Center offers: 3- to 5-hour health and safety curriculum ½ day Training-of-Trainers workshop on young workers’ safety Short seminars for employers Other resources and consultation on health and safety issues

23. The Young Worker SafetyResource Center serves: Staff from: School to Career programs Workforce Investment Boards Jobs for America’s Graduates Transition-to-work programs for youth with disabilities Employers of Youth Representatives of other community organizations working with youth

24. For More Information: Diane Bush, Coordinator Young Workers Project Labor Occupational Health Program University of California at Berkeley 2223 Fulton Street, 4th Floor Berkeley, CA 94720-5120 phone: 510-643-2424 fax: 510-643-5698 dbush@uclink4.berkeley.edu Christine Miara EDC Project Director Education Development Center, Inc. 55 Chapel Street Newton, MA 02458 phone: 617-618-2238 cmiara@edc.org

25. TeenWorkStories

26. Story: Girl Blinded by Chemicals Jaime is a 17-year-old dietary aide in a hospital. To clean cooking pans, she soaks them in a powerful chemical solution. She uses gloves to protect her hands and arms. One day, as Jaime was lifting 3 large pans out of the chemical solution at once, the pans slipped out of her hands and back into the solution which splashed all over the side of her face and into her right eye. She was blinded in that eye for 2 weeks.

27. Story: Youth Crushes Fingers in Pizza Dough Machine Andy is a 17-year-old employee in a pizza shop. To make pizzas, he starts by putting dough through an electric dough roller to roll out the crust. One day, the dough got stuck in the machine. Andy tried to push it through with his hand but his hand got caught between the two rubber rollers, crushing two fingers on his left hand.

28. Story: 16-Year-Old Boy Suffers Burns Billy is a 16-year-old worker in a fast food restaurant. One day, while walking toward the grill, Billy slipped on grease that had splattered onto the floor. To stop his fall, he tried to grab onto a bar near the grill, but missed it and put his hand onto the hot grill instead. He suffered second-degree burns on the palm of his hand.

29. Story: Girl Accidentally Dumps Hot Oil on Self and Co-Worker in Fast Food Restaurant Monique is a 15-year-old worker in a fast food restaurant. One day, Monique was moving the french-fry basket from the hot oil to the drying bin. She didn’t realize that a co-worker was crouching behind her getting napkins out of the storage cabinet, which is located just below the Fryolator. As Monique turned around, she bumped into her co-worker, spilling hot grease onto both of them.

30. Story: Girl Cuts Finger to Bone on Meat Slicer Mollie is a 16-year-old employee at a grocery store. Mollie thought that the meat slicer was turned off before she began to clean it, but just as she started to clean the blades, the blade moved. The machine cut a finger on Mollie’s left hand all the way to the bone and also broke her finger with the force.

31. Story: 17-Year-Old Strains Back in Grocery Store Stephen is a 17-year-old employee in a grocery store. One day, when he was loading 40-pound boxes onto a wooden pallet, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower back. He had to stay out of work for a week to recover, and his back still hurts him sometimes.

32. Story: Stress Takes a Toll on Youth Worker Sean is a 17-year-old cashier who works about 40 hours a week at a large discount retail store. Lately it seems that he is always being yelled at by customers. When the boss gets involved, he always says the customer is right, which makes Sean angry. His boss is also always on him to work faster and ring up purchases more quickly. Not only is Sean feeling stressed out all the time, he is also starting to feel some pain in his wrist from working the cash register.

33. Story: Young Gas Station Attendant Suffers Severe Frostbite Reggie is a 16-year-old gas station attendant. One very cold winter night, his fingers and toes started to feel cold and later became numb. He worked four more hours until the end of his shift at 11:00 p.m. He went home but woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t feel his fingers or his toes. He had second- and third-degree frostbite on all his fingers and on three of his toes.

34. Story: Girl Contracts Hepatitis at Summer Job Tanya is a 15-year-old worker for a summer clean-up corps that was cleaning up city beaches. One day while she was picking up trash, her hand was stuck with a hypodermic needle. She was later tested and diagnosed with hepatitis B virus.

35. Story: Young Worker Suffers Heat Stroke James is a 17-year-old worker for a city public works department. One hot afternoon (it was 92 F outside) while James was weeding an overgrown lot, he started to feel dizzy and disoriented, and then fainted due to the heat.

36. Story: Boy Suffers Permanent Injury at Work A 16-year-old student worked at a fast food restaurant. The floor often got very greasy and had to be washed a lot. As the student walked across the wet floor carrying a basket of french-fries, he slipped. He tried to keep the fries from falling so he couldn’t break his fall with his hands. He fell on his tailbone and was seriously injured. He is now permanently disabled and has trouble walking.

37. Story: Young Woman’s Hand Caught in Cabbage Shredder--Basketball Career Ends A 19-year-old college student was working at a deli. When operating an electric cabbage shredder, she caught her hand in the machinery. She had never been given any health and safety training or even shown how to use the shredder properly. Since the accident, she has had four operations and months of painful physical therapy. Her hand is permanently disfigured. She used to be on the school basketball team, but now she can’t play. Workers compensation paid her only $2300.