Many workplaces benefit from hiring teenage workers for part-time, summer and seasonal jobs. Young people can bring energy, enthusiasm, stamina and new ideas to their work and be a big help in stores, offices, factories, and a variety of other workplaces.

We have to remember, though, that teenagers don't have as much experience, knowledge and training as we do. This is particularly true when it comes to safety. 

They may not be aware of some of the hazards we look out for automatically or know what safety precautions to take. Every year, tens of thousands of teen workers end up in hospital emergency rooms because of injuries suffered on the job. Some, unfortunately, die as a result. 

To prevent some of these safety problems, the government has a list of tasks that teens can't perform as well as tasks and working hours that are permitted only for older teens. In addition to being aware of these prohibitions, we have to keep in mind that teens need careful instruction and supervision. They just don't have the experience to know what could go wrong and what the impact could be. So it's up to us to help protect them—and ourselves.

General hazards
Teenagers have higher rates of work-related injuries than adults, but adults have to share the responsibility. One study found that more than half of teens with job-related injuries that limited their activities for a day or more reported they hadn't been trained to prevent the injury they experienced. Only about 20 percent said a supervisor was present when they were injured.

Certain jobs and hazards seem to have more than their share of teen work-related deaths and injuries. Number one is working in or around motor vehicles, either driving or riding in cars or trucks or having an accident with a vehicle while walking or riding a bicycle.

Teen jobs in this category may involve:

• Delivery (e.g., furniture, parcels, pizzas)
• Traveling to provide home-based services (e.g., landscaping, appliance repair)
• Residential trash pickup
• Road maintenance or construction
• Gas station or auto-repair work. 
• Teens have also been injured operating tractors, forklifts, loaders, and other heavy equipment.

Other job risks with a history of teen injuries or deaths include:

• Electrocution, especially from contact with an energized power line. Roofing, chimney cleaning, pool cleaning, tree trimming and similar jobs present this risk.
• Assaults and violent acts while working alone or in small numbers in public businesses like stores or gas stations
• Falls from ladders, scaffolds, roofs or trees
• Severe burns from cooking equipment
• Sprains and strains from lifting while working in warehouses or health care settings, delivering furniture or appliances, installing or removing carpet or tile, etc.
• Exposure to hazardous materials such as farm or lawn care pesticides or asbestos and silica in construction and maintenance

Yet another hazard that can affect all the other hazards is fatigue. A lot of young people become tired from trying to balance work, school and a social life. They simply don't get enough sleep.

While these hazards have created higher than normal deaths and injuries among teens, they aren't the only ones that should concern us. Teenagers have to be aware of and protect against any hazard in the work area or workplace, just as the rest of us do.

But all of us have to take the time to watch out for them and make sure they do only what they're permitted to and only with training and direction from more experienced people.

Identifying hazards
To help promote teenage safety, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act has identified a list of hazardous non-farm jobs that teens under 18 are usually not allowed to do. There are additional prohibitions for minors under 16, as well as limits on their hours.

Other than a few exceptions for apprentices and student learners, teens under 18 generally can't work at jobs that involve:

• Manufacturing or storing explosives
• Mining
• Logging and sawmill work
• Exposure to radioactive substances and ionizing radiation
• Power-driven woodworking, hoisting, metal forming, punching and shearing machines
• Meat packing or processing (including power-driven meat-slicing machines)
• Power-driven bakery or paper products machines
• Manufacturing brick, tile and related products
• Power-driven circular or band saws or guillotine shears
• Wrecking, demolition and ship-breaking operations
• Roofing
• Excavating

Limits on teenage employee
Driving Teens are also limited when it comes to jobs that involve driving. Only workers 17 or older may drive on public roads as part of their jobs. And they can only do such driving during daylight hours. 

In addition, they must be in vehicles that weigh no more than 6,000 pounds and are equipped with seat belts the young workers have been instructed to use while driving. Young people who drive as part of their jobs must also have a valid license for that type of driving and have successfully completed state-approved driver education. They must have no record of moving violations when hired.

No more than one-third of any workday or 20 percent of their workweek can be spent driving, and they may make no more than two daily trips from their primary worksite either to deliver employer goods to a customer or to transport passengers, aside from other employees. Teens also can't hold jobs where driving involves:

• Towing vehicles, urgent or time-sensitive deliveries, or route deliveries or sales
• Transporting property, goods or passengers for hire
• Transporting more than three passengers, including other employees
• Driving outside a 30-mile radius from the workplace

Work hour limits
While teens 16 and older have no limits on which or how many hours they can work, 14- and 15-year-olds are restricted. In addition, those younger teens can't work as public messengers or machine tenders. They can't work in manufacturing, mining, processing, warehousing, construction, communication, transportation and public utilities—other than office or sales jobs.

They can work in retail, food service and gasoline service workplaces doing jobs like cashiering, selling, trimming windows, marking prices, cleaning up, working in kitchens, pumping gas, etc. They may also work at newspaper delivery, as actors and performers, and for their own parents in any non-hazardous job. Even in permitted jobs, teens under 16 can't work during school hours. During non-school hours, they're limited to:

• 3 hours on a school day
• 18 hours in a school week
• 8 hours on a non-school day
• 40 hours in a non-school week. Also, their work hours must fall between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when they can work until 9 p.m.

Protection against hazards
Even with those limitations, there are still plenty of jobs that teens can perform—and perform well. It's up to us to help them work safely. Like any new workers, they need safety training and close supervision. And teenagers require a little more effort from us because they're not only new to our workplace, they're new to working.

We have to stop and think about what we're assigning young people to do and make sure it is work they're legally permitted to do. Being legal is, of course, only the first step. We also have to try to select tasks and situations that present the least potential for injury, illness, or any type of accident. And we should check out the area and equipment for hazards that young workers might not know how to identify.

By taking the time to train and supervise young people carefully, we protect them and those who work with and around them. It's also a chance for us to pay a little more attention to the hazards in our work area and the precautions we need to take.

Safety procedures
Teenagers have more accidents at work because they lack the experience to prevent them. We can help make up for that by showing them how to do the job correctly and safely—and explaining clearly the risks of not following these steps. 

Don't assume that a young person (or even an older one) will understand what could go wrong. When you're training a young person to work safely, follow these steps:

• Provide clear instructions on the procedures to follow, including specific safety precautions.
• Ask the young person to repeat the instructions, then ask for and respond to any questions.
• Show the trainee how to perform the task correctly and safely.
• Ask the trainee to perform the task while you watch.
• Correct any mistakes; ask for and answer any questions.
• Check back periodically to make sure the young person is still performing the task correctly and safely.

If a task involves using or working around any kind of equipment, be sure to demonstrate how to use it safely. Explain such essential safety precautions as:

• Keeping machine guards in place
• Leaving machine and electrical repair and maintenance to trained, authorized people
• Turning off or disconnecting equipment at the end of a task or shift
• Keeping areas clear around exit doors and sprinklers
• Cleaning up spills promptly
• Lifting properly with the knees, not the back
• Checking labels and, if available, material safety data sheets for chemicals, cleaning products and other materials to identify hazards and safety precautions.
• Placing tools, sharp objects and other potentially harmful items in their proper locations—and never where they could accidentally fall, puncture, or cause other injuries.

Be sure that young workers know when and how to use personal protective equipment. They may need hard hats, gloves, safety shoes, etc. Show them where to get PPE, how to inspect it and use it, and how to remove and put it away properly.

Yet another thing young workers should know is what to do in an emergency. Familiarize them with things such as:

• Fire alarms
• Emergency exits and evacuation routes
• Emergency contacts
• Location of first-aid supplies

Our job with young workers doesn't end when we explain safety hazards and precautions. We need to keep an eye on them, just as we would with any new worker. We all have to take responsibility for each other, and we want to make sure that our youngest workers learn to perform tasks properly every time. 

That doesn't mean we become baby-sitters, but it does mean we should be alert as to where they are and what they're doing in order to prevent trouble. 

We also have to set a good example. In other words, safety isn't just for teenagers. We have to follow the same procedures we expect them to follow. That's not just to set an example, but to protect ourselves. Safety has to be everyone's habit, every day.

One of the most valuable things you can do for a young worker is to encourage him or her to feel comfortable asking questions and checking before trying something new. Take their questions and concerns seriously. Praise them for asking and explain the how and why of safety procedures. We can help get them off to a good start on their working lives and develop the habits they'll need for success. They'll benefit from developing the habit of beginning a job by stopping to identify hazards—then following the safety precautions needed to prevent accidents. 

Even if their future work doesn't present the same hazards as their job here, thinking before acting and then acting on the basis of knowledge has benefits far beyond safety.

Teenage workers can be a big asset in the workplace, filling in at busy times or providing extra part-time help on an ongoing basis. We have to remember, though, that they are young and need our help and instruction to identify and avoid safety hazards. 

It's not always easy to tell young people what to do. Some think they already know everything. But we can't afford to take chances when it comes to safety. It's our responsibility and sometimes our challenge to get young workers to recognize that there are safety issues on the job and there are steps they have to take to prevent accidents. 

We have to take the time to instruct them, show them, and watch them. And perhaps one of the most important things we can do is set a good example. There's no point in telling a teenager to perform a job a certain way—the safe way—and then cutting corners on safety ourselves. They'll do what we do, not what we say. And working safely is everyone's job.

Read more about safety training at www.trainingonline.com.

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