Special Considerations Regarding the Young Worker

1
Special Considerations Regarding the Young Worker
or What Makes the Young Worker Different?
2
Young workers have a higher rate of injury per
hour than adults

• Injuries for young workers are estimated to be
  between 210,000-315,000 each year workers and
  there were
• 44 deaths in 2002
• 16 youth lt16 years
• 28 16-and 17-year-olds

Castillo, Davis Wegman, 1999 Census of
Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2002
3
The Changing US Workforce

• In the next decade the youth population (ages
  16-24) is expected to increase as a share of the
  workforce.

4
Young Workers at Risk

• The experience factor
• General lack of experience normal adolescent
  psychological development high injury risk
• Accident rates are higher even for young workers
  with experience

Institute of Medicine, 1998
5
Hazardous Orders

• Prohibit most workers under age 18 from working
  in hazardous occupations
• eg, roofing, coal mining, driving a motor vehicle
• Limit the hours for some young workers
• Prohibit some tasks for most workers under 18
• See Child Labor Provisions of the FLSAct
• http//www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/docs/haznonag.as
  p

6
FLSA Hazardous Orders A Few Examples

• YES for ages 14 15
• 3 hrs/ day
• Between 7a-7p
• Office work
• Retail food service

• NO for anyone lt18
• Roofing
• Driving
• Operating powered machines
• Powered meat slicing

7
Contributing Factors to Increased Risk for Young
Workers

• Adolescence is a time of rapid growth
• Injuries carry a greater risk of having long term
  consequences
• Ergonomic factors
• Smaller size lighter weight
• Work is an burden to the young body when combined
  with school and leisure activities

8
Contributing Factors to Increased Risk for Young
Workers

• Cognitive and behavioral factors
• Knowledge often lags behind decision making
  ability
• Sleep needs
• Adolescents need as much as 9.5 hours/night
• Often a difficulty when working going to
  school

9
Young Workers Get Hurt When

• They dont have appropriate supervision
• They perform jobs for which they are not trained
  sometimes without being asked
• They work with dangerous tools or equipment
• They are required to perform tasks that violate
  youth employment laws

10
Prohibited Occupations for Non-Agricultural
Employees.

• The child labor rules that apply to
  non-agricultural employment depend on the age of
  the young worker and the kind of job to be
  performed. 14 years old is the minimum age for
  non-agricultural employment covered by the FLSA.

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• In addition to restrictions on hours, the
  Secretary of Labor has found that certain jobs
  are too hazardous for anyone under 18 years of
  age to perform.
• There are additional restrictions on where and in
  what jobs 14-and 15-year-olds can work. These
  rules must be followed unless one of the FLSA's
  child labor exemptions apply

12

• A youth 18 years or older may perform any job,
  whether hazardous or not.
• A youth 16 or 17 years old may perform any
  non-hazardous job. (See the list of hazardous
  occupations below.)
• A youth 14 and 15 years old may not work in the
  manufacturing or mining industries, or in any
  hazardous job. (See the list of hazardous
  occupations below.) In addition, a 14- or
  15-year-old may not work in the following
  occupations

13

• Communications or public utilities jobs
• Construction or repair jobs
• Driving a motor vehicle or helping a driver
• Manufacturing and mining occupations
• Power-driven machinery or hoisting apparatus
  other than typical office machines
• Processing occupations
• Public messenger jobs
• Transporting of persons or property
• Workrooms where products are manufactured, mined
  or processed
• Warehousing and storage.

14

• A 14- or 15-year-old may work in retail stores,
  food service establishments and gasoline service
  stations. However, a 14- or 15-year-old may not
  perform the following jobs in the retail and
  service industries

15

• Baking
• Boiler or engine room work, whether in or about
• Cooking, except with gas or electric grilles that
  do not involve cooking over an open flame and
  with deep fat fryers that are equipped with and
  utilize devices that automatically lower and
  raise the baskets in and out of the hot grease or
  oil
• Freezers or meat coolers work
• Loading or unloading goods on or off trucks,
  railcars or conveyors
• Meat processing area work
• Maintenance or repair of a building or its
  equipment
• Operating, setting up, adjusting, cleaning,
  oiling, or repairing power-driven food slicers,
  grinders, choppers or cutters and bakery mixers
• Outside window washing, or work standing on a
  window sill, ladder, scaffold or similar
  equipment
• Warehouse work, except office and clerical work.

16

• The jobs a 14- or 15-year-old may do in the
  retail and service industries include
• Bagging and carrying out customer's orders
• Cashiering, selling, modeling, art work,
  advertising, window trimming, or comparative
  shopping
• Cleaning fruits and vegetables
• Clean-up work and grounds maintenance - The young
  worker may use vacuums and floor waxers, but he
  or she cannot use power-driven mowers, cutters,
  and trimmers
• Clean cooking equipment, including the filtering,
  transporting and dispensing of oil and grease,
  but only when the surfaces of the equipment and
  liquids do not exceed 100 F
• Delivery work by foot, bicycle, or public
  transportation

17

• Kitchen and other work in preparing and serving
  food and drinks, but not cooking or baking (see
  hazardous jobs)
• Office and clerical work
• Pricing and tagging goods, assembling orders,
  packing, or shelving
• Pumping gas, cleaning and polishing cars and
  trucks (but the young worker cannot repair cars,
  use garage lifting rack, or work in pits)
• Wrapping, weighing, pricing, stocking any goods
  as long as the young worker does not work where
  meat is being prepared and does not work in
  freezers or meat coolers.

18

• Complete Child Labor Exemptions
• The Fair Labor Standards Act provides for certain
  exemptions. Youth younger than 16 years of age
  working in a business solely owned by their
  parents or by persons standing in place of their
  parents,  can work any time of day and for any
  number of hours. However, parents are prohibited
  from employing their child in manufacturing or
  mining or in any of the occupations declared
  hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.

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• In addition, the child labor rules do not apply
  to
• Youth employed as actors or performers in motion
  pictures, theatrical, radio, or television
  productions
• Youth engaged in the delivery of newspapers to
  consumers and
• Youth working at home in the making of wreaths
  composed of natural holly, pine, cedar, or other
  evergreens (including the harvesting of the
  evergreens).

20
Employer Awareness

• Be aware of FLSA restrictions with regards to
  hours and jobs/tasks
• Train managers and young workers
• Question young workers regularly about types of
  equipment they are using
• Monitor compliance with restrictions
• Post warning stickers or a stop sign on
  hazardous equipment
• Check out http//www.youthrules.dol.gov/ca.htm
  for more TIPS

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For More Information

• You can also contact the CNMI-OSHA On- site
  Consultation Office at [phone]/88/9 or Fax
  us at [phone] or
• Email your questions to guerrero.ray_at_dol.gov
• Or Visit our office at the CNMI Department of
  Labor located at 2nd Floor Afetnas Building, San
  Antonio