Notice to Readers
NIOSH Alert: Request for Assistance in Preventing Deaths and
Injuries of Adolescent Workers
CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) periodically issues alerts about workplace hazards that
have caused death, serious injury, or illness in workers. One such
alert, Request for Assistance in Preventing Deaths and Injuries of
Adolescent Workers (1), was recently published and is available to
the public. * This alert summarizes information about work-related
injuries and deaths among adolescents, identifies work that is
especially hazardous, and offers recommendations for prevention.
This information can help employers, parents, educators, and
adolescent workers make informed decisions about safe work and
recognize hazards in the workplace.
Each year, approximately 70 adolescents die from injuries at
work. Hundreds more are hospitalized, and tens of thousands require
treatment in hospital emergency departments. For example, 68
adolescents aged less than 18 years died from work-related injuries
in 1993 (2), and an estimated 64,000 adolescents had work-related
injuries that required treatment in hospital emergency departments
in 1992 (3). Compared with adults, adolescents have a higher risk
for work-related injury (4) and a similar risk for fatal
occupational injury (5). During 1980-1989, the risk for fatal
injury among workers aged 16 and 17 years was 5.1 per 100,000
full-time equivalent workers, compared with 6.0 for adult workers
--
even though adolescents are employed less frequently in especially
hazardous jobs.
Agricultural businesses and retail trade accounted for the
most work-related deaths among adolescents, and many deaths of
workers aged less than 16 years occurred in family-owned businesses
(1). Types of work associated with large numbers of deaths and
serious injuries included the following: working in or around motor
vehicles, operating tractors and other heavy equipment, working
near electrical hazards, working in retail and service businesses
with a risk for robbery-related homicide, working with fall hazards
such as ladders and scaffolds, working around cooking appliances,
and performing hazardous manual lifting.
To reduce the potential for serious injuries and deaths of
adolescent workers, NIOSH recommends:
Employers should know and comply with child labor laws and
should evaluate workplace hazards for adolescent workers.
Parents should participate in their children's employment
decisions and should discuss the types of work, training, and
supervision provided by the employer.
Educators should know child labor laws, provide work experience
programs with safe and healthful work environments, and incorporate
occupational safety and health information in the general
curriculum.
Adolescents should know their rights and responsibilities as
workers and should seek training and information about safe work
practices.
References
NIOSH. Request for assistance in preventing deaths and injuries
of adolescent workers. Cincinnati: US Department of Health and
Human Services, Public Health Service, CDC, 1995; DHHS
publication
no. (NIOSH)95-125.
Toscano G, Windau J. The changing character of fatal work
injuries. Monthly Labor Review 1994;118:17-28.
Layne LA, Castillo DN, Stout N, Cutlip P. Adolescent
occupational injuries requiring hospital emergency department
treatment: a nationally representative sample. Am J Public
Health
1994;84:657-60.
CDC. Surveillance of occupational injuries treated in hospital
emergency departments. MMWR 1983;32 (no. 2SS):31SS-37SS.
Castillo DN, Landen DD, Layne LA. Occupational injury deaths of
16- and 17-year-olds in the United States. Am J Public Health
1994;84:646-9.
Single copies of this document are available without charge from
the Publications Office, NIOSH, CDC, Mailstop C-13, 4676 Columbia
Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998; telephone (800) 356-4674 ({513}
533-8328 for persons outside the United States); fax (513)
533-8573.
Disclaimer
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**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.
