Thousands of teen workers are injured in the workplace every year.
Taking a job as a teenager is a character building experience. Finding a job, time management, earning money and being responsible for your own actions in your teen years, can make a world of difference to your personality. Many teens use this money to supplement their family income or to pay for their school. More than a million teens are part of the American workforce. Nearly 80% of the teenagers have had a job by the time they graduate high school. However, different types of jobs come with their own risks, and some teen workers face serious safety issues at work.
Research has indicated that teen workers are twice as likely as adult workers to suffer work related injuries. Their inexperience and lack of familiarity with workplace tasks makes them susceptible to workplace injuries.
According to the Occupational Safety an Health Administration (OSHA), a teenager suffers an injury in the workplace every 9 minutes in the United States. While teens are aware of their human rights, they are often not aware of their rights as a worker. Here are some facts on teen safety at work.
Workplace Injuries for Teens
Most teenagers work fewer hours and do less dangerous jobs than adults, but they still have high rate of workplace injuries. Each year, around 70 teens under age 18 die from workplace injuries, and 77,000 suffer serious injuries. Here are some facts about work related injuries among teens:
- The most common reason why newly hired teens is because they are suffering from workplace injuries such as muscle strains, sprains and tears.
- Almost 70% of 14 to 16 year olds who suffer workplace injuries miss work, school, and other important activities for at least one day. About 25% of the injured teens have to miss these activities for more than a week.
- Workplace injuries among teen workers are worsened by fatigue from trying to balance school and work.
- Almost a third of fatal workplace injuries to young workers occur in family businesses
Protecting Your Teen
If your teen is considering getting a job, make sure you check the safety record of the employer. Try to find out what type of safety equipment is mandated by OSHA for that particular industry and work, and ensure that your child knows how to use it.
Teens should be aware of the safety regulations and they should not be afraid of reporting any violations. If a teen suffers a workplace injury, he/she may be entitled to workers compensation benefits. In case the teen faces any problems in getting the right type of treatment of disability benefits under the workers compensation system, they should get in touch with an experienced and competent St. Louis workers compensation lawyer. The lawyer will protect the rights of the teen, and will help get the benefits they deserve.