|
WASHINGTON, DC — The National Consumers League
(NCL) issued the 2005 Five Worst Teen Jobs today as Vice
President for Fair Labor Standards Policy Darlene Adkins called
for parents and teens alike to reconsider the serious dangers of
many forms of summer employment.
As the summer job season gears up, NCL
cautions teens and parents that every 30 seconds, a young worker
is injured on the job, and one teen dies from a workplace injury
every five days. According to the Department of Labor,
fatalities among working youth climbed to 175 deaths in 2001.
“Too many young people earn money during
their summers off at a high personal cost. Working to help save
for college, contribute to your family’s budget, or just to
enjoy some spending cash is a great idea, but teenagers and
their parents need to ask: is this safe work?” said Adkins.
“These five worst jobs identify serious dangers that working
youth can avoid.”
For the first time this year, working
outside as helpers in landscaping, groundskeeping, and lawn
services has made the list of dangerous jobs. Just last month, a
Florida teen was electrocuted to death while trimming trees.
NCL compiles the five worst teen jobs each
year using government statistics and reports, results from the
Child Labor Coalition’s annual survey of state labor
departments, and news accounts of injuries and deaths.
Statistics and examples of injuries for each job on the list are
detailed in a report available at
www.nclnet.org/labor/childlabor.
2005 Five Worst Teen Jobs
-
Agriculture: Field Work and Processing. Agriculture is the most dangerous
industry for young workers, accounting for 42 percent of all
work-related fatalities of young workers between 1992 and
2000. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of
Labor Statistics, among young agricultural workers aged
15-17, the risk of fatal injury is four times the risk for
young workers in other workplaces.
-
Construction and Work in Heights:
Despite existing prohibitions that address
specific types of hazardous construction work, it remains
the third leading cause of death among young
workers. According to NIOSH, youth 15-17 years of age
working in construction had greater than seven times the
risk for fatal injury as youth in other industries, and
greater than twice the risk of workers 25-44 years of age
working in construction.
-
Outside Helper: Landscaping, Groundskeeping, and Lawn
Service:
Landscaping, groundskeeping and lawn
service work often involves the use of dangerous power
tools, such as chain saws and machinery such as tractors,
all-terrain vehicles, and mulchspreaders. Workers also
often work with pesticides, fertilizers, and other hazardous
chemicals. Fatality numbers are low, yet recent anecdotal
evidence indicates that young workers are using tools and
equipment that are prohibited for their use in this industry
and are being injured as a result.
-
Driver/Operator of Forklifts, Tractors and All Terrain
Vehicles (ATVs):
Tractor-related accidents are the most prevalent cause of
agricultural fatality in the United States. Increasingly,
tractors are being used in non-agricultural work as well, with
resulting injuries and fatalities to young workers. Workers of
all ages are killed and seriously injured by forklifts.
Although most deaths involving driving/operating forklifts,
nearly half of all forklift-related deaths were caused by
working around them – being run over, struck by the machine or
its cargo, or pinned by a forklift, or riding as a passenger.
Increasingly, ATVs are showing up in the workplace and follow
the same risk of overturns and rollovers as tractors. Persons
under the age of 16 were the victims of 38 percent of all
reported ATV-related deaths for all ages between 1982 and 2001.
-
Traveling Youth Crews. Recruited to sell candy, magazine subscriptions, and
other items door-to-door or on street corners, children as
young as ten years old often work after dark, under
dangerous conditions, and unsupervised by adults. For many,
it is a job that requires traveling in vans to unfamiliar
neighborhoods in distant cities, and often across state
lines. Each year, thousands of mostly 16-24-year-olds join
traveling sales crews that move rapidly around the country.
Hazards include questionable transportation as well as crew
leaders with criminal convictions and behavior. The watchdog
group Parent Watch has compiled a list of dozens of felonies
involving door-to-door salespeople, including 13 cases of
rape or sexual assault, four cases of murder, and a number
of deaths from traffic accidents attributed to faulty
equipment or negligent driving—since 2000.
“It’s important for teens and
parents to know that all jobs can be hazardous, not just the
ones on this list,” said Adkins. To promote safe work, NCL has
released tips for working teens and advice for parents. All
materials are available online at
http://nclnet.org/childlabor.
|
