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One in six working teenagers reported being injured at work, a US study has found. Researchers reported some youths were in hazardous occupations from which they should have been barred because of their age. The study, published in the American Journal of Health Behavior, was based on the results of a questionnaire completed by more than 6,800 Wisconsin high school students in 2003. Slightly more than half of the students reported having a job, with 514 getting injured at work, including 150 injured severely enough for their activities at home, work or school to be affected for more than three days. Ninety-seven filed claims for workers' compensation.
“The findings clearly indicate that work-related injuries among youth are a significant health problem,” said Kristina Zierold, an assistant professor of family medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and lead author of the study.
br>The researchers noted that across the US, approximately 70 children die from injuries inflicted at work at year, hundreds are hospitalised and tens of thousands require treatment in hospital emergency rooms. The study found training for most jobs teens are hired to do is perfunctory, with little emphasis on safety. “Training usually consists of another worker explaining how to do the work and how to run the equipment, without emphasis on safety issues,” Zierold said. She added that effective safety training would mean teens would “feel empowered at the workplace by knowing their rights and how to protect themselves.” The paper concluded that prohibiting teens from working long and late hours, improved safety training, and increased communication between teens and their co-workers and supervisors may help reduce the occurrence of injury.
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