Second Nature

This article is from the most recent SHARP newsletter. It is very important to remember worker safety, especially for children under 18 years old.

- Jayme Carleton, Second Nature

http://jaymecarleton.com

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In Washington State, the Employment Standards Division and L&I enforce regulations restricting children less than 18 years of age from hazardous work. Employers of these workers are required to obtain a minor work permit endorsement on their business license, signed permission from the youth’s parent and school, and comply with state and federal laws which restrict when and what work young workers perform.

Despite laws that regulate and restrict the work activities of teen workers (TeenWorkers.Lni.wa.gov) there are still tragic injuries that occur. In Washington State, Miller and Kaufman (1998) reported that accepted workers’ compensation claims rate for workers aged 16‑17 was almost double the rate of workers 18 and older from 1988‑1991; 19.4 accepted claims per 100 full‑time equivalents (FTEs) compared to 10.6 accepted claims per 100 full‑time equivalents. Workers under the age of 18 are not the only young workers population that suffers from tragic injuries. From 1998‑2007, the average number of young worker (ages 15‑24) fatalities in the United States was 572, 93% of these fatalities occurred to workers aged 18‑24 years.

L&I’s Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) team is analyzing injury rates for workers from 2005‑2007. The analysis compares rates of minors (ages 16‑17) and other young workers (ages 18‑24) to older workers (ages 25 and older). The analysis does not calculate injury rates for 14 and 15 year olds because employment data to calculate injury rates are not available.

Please click here to view the full report on SHARP’s Young Worker Injuries Web page.

Please call the SHARP program at 1‑888‑667‑4277 or e‑mail SHARP@Lni.wa.gov for information about the project or visit the Web site at: SHARP Research.