Young Worker Injuries and Illnesses

1
Young Worker Injuries and Illnesses

• Information Provided under OSHA Susan Harwood
  Capacity Building Grant SH-20848SHO

2
Occupational Injuries and Deaths Among Young
Workers

• Younger workers (defined as those aged 15-24
  years)
• Represent 14 of the U.S. labor force
• Overrepresented in dangerous jobs construction,
  transportation, agriculture, and mining.
• 2009 there were 343 fatalities among this group
• Workers under 25 years old were twice as likely
  to end up in the emergency room when compared to
  those aged 25 and older

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. April 23,
2010, Vol. 59, No. 15.
3
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

• Rates of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses
  Treated in Emergency Departments by Age Group,
  United States, 2006

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Charts on Young Worker Employment, Injuries and
Illness
4
Teen Specific Work Injury Statistics

• Many youth are injured on the job in the US
• 158,000 lt18 year-olds injured/year
• 52,600 lt18 year-olds to the ER for work injuries
• 38 lt18 year-olds die each year
• Young workers are injured at a higher rate than
  adult workers.

5
Where Teens are Injured
6
Where Teens Work
7
Sharing Work Related Experiences

• How many of you have ever had a job?
• Where did you work?
• What did you do?
• Have you ever been hurt at work, or do you know
  someone who was?
• Have you ever been uncomfortable with a task
  youve been asked to do at work?

8
Injury Report Babysitting

• 15 year-old babysitter
• Watching 3 month-old and 5 year-old at home
• Heating water for bottle on stove
• Dish towel catches fire
• In panic, babysitter is unable to locate fire
  extinguisher
• Evacuates house with children and calls 911
• House is engulfed and all treated for smoke
  inhalation

9
Injury Report Concert

• 18 year-old employee
• Working at a summer music amphitheater
• Responsible for working on the security team
• Stampede ensued when the gate is cracked open
• Employee suffers broken bones and nightmares
  after being trampled

9
10
Injury Report Housekeeping

• 15 year-old team member
• Picking up trash and emptying trash bin in the
  restroom
• Improperly disposed of diabetic needle sticks
  team member in the hand
• Several months later team member tests positive
  for HIV

10
11
Injury Report Masonry Apprentice

• 20 year-old brick laying apprentice
• Carrying a bucket of mortar on shoulder
• While setting the bucket down mortar splashed up
  into the apprentices face and eyes
• The mortar burned the apprentices eyes and had
  started to setup
• The patients eye had to be scraped
• Resulting in hospital stays, operations, and
  potential permanent loss of vision in one or both
  eyes

11
12
Injury Report Lifeguard

• 17 year-old lifeguard at neighborhood pool
• Required to sit in life guard stand for 2 hour
  stretches
• Temperature outside is 95 degrees and sunny
• During the last rain storm the umbrella was blown
  away
• One lifeguard called in sick and pool is filled
  to capacity
• Life guard passes out and is rushed to the
  hospital
• Diagnosed with heat stroke

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13
Injury Report Childcare

• 16 year-old assistant at childcare center
• Mixing bleach and water to disinfect toys and
  tabletops
• Accidentally mixed bleach with what she thought
  it was water
• Chlorine gas was released requiring the classroom
  to be evacuated
• Assistant and 2 children treated for respiratory
  irritation

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Injury Report Restaurant

• 17 year-old dishwasher at restaurant
• Responsible for operating dishwasher
  conveyor-belt system
• Sleeve was caught in conveyor belt during loading
  and arm was pulled into machine
• Employee suffered severe burns to his arm after
  contacting the dish washer water

15
Injury Report Convenience Store

• 18 year-old clerk at quick-service mart
• Closing up store at night emptying register
• One other employee was taking out trash in back
  of store
• Gunman entered and demanded money and lottery
  tickets
• Clerk was not physically harmed, but unable to
  return to work

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Injury Report Laboratory Safety

• 19 year-old student is employed as laboratory
  assistant for college chemistry class
• Preparing chemical materials a class on the
  laboratory workbench
• Student assumed the chemical in container was the
  material he needed and combined it with another
  chemical
• A violent chemical reaction occurred and sprayed
  up onto face and neck of student
• The safety drench shower did not work when he
  pulled the lever
• Student suffered permanent tissue damage to face
  and eyes

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Identification of Job Hazards

• Information Provided under OSHA Susan Harwood
  Capacity Building Grant SH-20848SHO

18
What is a Job Hazard?
A job hazard is anything at work that can hurt
you, either physically or mentally.
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The Effects of Job Hazards

• Temporary Effects

• Permanent Effects

20
The Effects of Job Hazards

• Immediate Effects

• Delayed Effects

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Hazard Categories
Hazard
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Hazard Categories

• Safety hazards can cause immediate accidents and
  injuries. (Examples knives, hot grease, etc.)
• Chemical hazards are gases, vapors, liquids, or
  dusts that can harm your body. (Examples
  cleaning products or pesticides.) Discuss how
  chemicals can get into the body.
• Biological hazards are living things that can
  cause sickness or disease. (Examples bacteria,
  viruses, or insects.)

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Hazard Categories

• Other health hazards are harmful things, not in
  other categories, that can injure you or make you
  sick. They are sometimes less obvious because
  they may not cause health problems right away.
  (Examples noise, radiation, repetitive
  movements, heat, cold)
• Pressure Cooker or Unspoken hazards
• unsafe equipment or procedures
• emergency situations fires, explosions, severe
  injury, violence
• stressful conditions
• inadequate training
• inadequate supervision
• deadlines, production requirements, etc.

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Getting a Safe Start to Identifying Hazards

• Ask your supervisor for help
• Get Training on the chemicals or equipment you
  will use
• Check the label of the products you will use
• Read the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for
  the chemicals or products being used
• Look online for safety and health information-
• See the resource list provided in the handout
  packet
• Call a resource agency like OSHA for more help

25
Material Safety Data Sheets
Questions to ask yourself

1. How is this chemical used?
2. What are the possible routes of entry?
3. What are the potential immediate effects of
   exposure to this chemical?
4. What are the potential delayed effects of
   exposure to this chemical?
5. What are the potential temporary or permanent
   effects of exposure to this chemical?
6. What concerns do you have, if any about this
   product?

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Exposure To Noise

• Demonstration of Noise Induced Hearing Loss

• NIOSH Sound Level Meter

http//www.hse.gov.uk/noise/demonstration.htm
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Summary

• Hazards can cause
• Temporary or permanent injury or illness.
• Effects that may show up right away or not until
  later in life.
• Recognizing Hazards
• May change daily,
• May be things that you cannot touch, see, smell,
  or hear,
• And may be situations that occur.
• It is important for workers to always be aware of
  how to assess a workplace for potential hazards.

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Hazards in the WorkplaceAdvanced Workshop
Session

• Understanding Emergency Preparedness

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Promoting Understanding Emergency Preparedness

• Story A Grease Fire in Restaurant Burns Employee
• A fire destroyed part of Hoopers Restaurant
  late Thursday night, and critically injured two
  employees. The fire was caused when a frying
  pan, filled with oil heating up on the stove, was
  left unattended while the fry cook went to get
  something out of the walk-in freezer. The fire
  rapidly spread to dishcloths hanging on a towel
  rack over the stove. Another employee discovered
  the fire and attempted to put out the fire by
  pouring water on the stove. This caused the
  burning grease to splatter his face, arms, and
  chest. Another co-worker, hearing cries for
  help, called 911 and then ran out into the dining
  room and yelled for everyone to leave the
  restaurant immediately. Emergency services
  arrived and went to work extinguishing the blaze
  and treating the burned employee.

Image source http//tell.fll.purdue.edu/JapanProj
/FLClipart/Medical/burn.gif
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Promoting Understanding Emergency Preparedness

• Story B Robber Threatens Young Employee With
  Gun A 16 year-old employee of a local
  convenience store was held up at gunpoint late
  Tuesday night by a robber wearing a hoodie and
  dark sunglasses. The employee was working alone
  at the front counter and was in the process of
  closing the store for the evening. The robber
  reportedly demanded the employee empty the cash
  register into a duffel bag, then get down on the
  floor behind the counter and remain on the floor
  for 15 minutes. The robber then exited the store.
  Although the young employee was not physically
  injured, she was very shaken up by the incident.

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Promoting UnderstandingEmergency Preparedness

• Story C Young Construction Worker Falls From
  LadderAn 18 year-old house painter, who was
  painting the second story of a house, fell off
  his ladder yesterday, breaking both legs. He
  also suffered severe cuts when he caught his arm
  on a metal fence during the fall. Co-workers
  rushed to assist him and called for an ambulance.
  While waiting for the ambulance, the co-workers
  carried the employee to the front lawn and then
  applied pressure to his open wound to stop the
  bleeding.

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Finding Solutions

• Controlling Preventing Hazards on the Job

Information Provided under OSHA Susan Harwood
Capacity Building Grant SH-20848SHO
33
Preventing Injuries Illnesses
In most cases, the best preventions require a
change in the workplace not a change in worker
behavior.
34
Prevention Strategies
35
Prevention Strategies
Remove the Hazard or Build a Barrier

• Employer Responsibility
• Remove the hazard
• Change equipment to eliminate the hazard
• Create a physical barrier between the hazard and
  a worker

Improve Work Policies Procedures
Use Protective Clothing Equipment
36
Prevention Strategies

• Employer Responsibility
• Establish rules and procedures
• Enforce rules and procedures
• Train workers
• Provide information on hazards and safety rules

Remove the Hazard or Build a Barrier
Improve Work Policies Procedures
Use Protective Clothing Equipment
37
Prevention Strategies

• Employer Responsibility
• Provide protective clothing and equipment
• Train on its use
• Employee Responsibility
• Wear and use the clothing and equipment correctly
  and consistently

Remove the Hazard or Build a Barrier
Improve Work Policies Procedures
Use Protective Clothing Equipment
38
Hazard Heavy Boxes
Move heavy boxes with forklift
Remove the Hazard or Build a Barrier
Replace heavy boxes with smaller, lighter boxes
Limit the amount of weight a worker is allowed to
carry
Improve Work Policies Procedures
Train workers to carry heavy objects correctly
Use Protective Clothing Equipment
Non-slip gloves
39
Personal Protective Equipment

• Your Last Line of Defense

Information Provided under OSHA Susan Harwood
Capacity Building Grant SH-20848SHO
40
An Overview Of Personal Protective Equipment

• The Purpose of PPE
• Types of PPE
• PPE Zones
• PPE Hazard Assessments
• PPE Shopping

41
Why wear PPE?

• Barrier against workplace hazards
• Prevent over exposure
• To prevent take home contamination
• Prevent exposure to others outside of the work
  environment

42
Routes of Exposure
Inhalation
Ingestion
Absorption
Injection
43
Types of PPE
SAFETY GLASSES
GLOVES
HARD HAT
HEARING PROTECTION
SAFETY SHOES
FACE SHIELD
44
PPE Zones
Head
Torso
Full Body
Hands
Legs
Feet
45
Summary

• The three main ways to control workplace hazards
  are
• Remove the hazards/build barrier
• Improve workplace policies or procedures
• Use protective clothing or equipment
• Although employers are responsible for providing
  a hazard-free work environment, we all have a
  responsibility to speak up and take action when
  we see a hazard or unsafe act.

46
Finding Your Voice

• Understanding Your Rights and Responsibilities

Information Provided under OSHA Susan Harwood
Capacity Building Grant SH-20848SHO
47
Your Right to a

• The creation of OSHA provided workers the right
  to a safe and healthful workplace.

Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act states Each
employer shall furnish to each of his employees
employment and a place of employment which are
free from recognized hazards that are causing or
are likely to cause death or serious physical
harm to his employees."
www.osha.gov or call 1-800-321-OSHA
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What Rights Do All Employees Have Under OSHA?

• You have the right to
• A safe and healthful workplace
• Know about hazardous chemicals
• Information about injuries and illnesses in your
  workplace
• Complain or request hazard correction from
  employer
• Training
• Hazard exposure and medical records
• File a complaint with OSHA
• Participate in an OSHA inspection
• Be free from retaliation for exercising safety
  and health rights

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Why are there Child Labor Laws?

• 1800s
• Children worked in mines, factories, etc.
• 12-14 hour days, 6 days/week
• 1/week wage
• Did not go to school
• Often lost limbs or killed by machinery

What laws could have prevented this?
50
Youth Rules!

• Child Labor Laws are designed to protect teens
  under 18 from
• Working long or late hours
• From doing certain dangerous tasks on the job
• Federal regulations updated on July 19, 2010
• Where to go for more information
• Youth Rules! Website http//youthrules.dol.gov/
  
• Wage and Hour Division of Department of Labor
  http//www.dol.gov/whd/

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Know Your Rights

• Federal and state labor laws
• Set minimum age for some tasks
• Protect teens from working too long, too late or
  too early
• OSHA says every employer must provide
• A safe workplace
• Safety training on certain hazards
• Safety equipment
• By law, your employer is not allowed to fire or
  punish you for reporting a safety problem.

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Rules based on age
AGE JOB TYPES WORKING HOURS
18 Any job, hazardous or not No limits
16 and 17 Any non-hazardous job No limits on times or hours
14 and 15 Outside school hours in non-manufacturing, non-mining, and non-hazardous jobs 7AM 7PM Labor Day to June 1 (cant miss school for work) Max. hours during school 3 hours/day, 18 hours/week 7AM 9PM June 1 to Labor Day Max. working hours non-school 8 hours/day, 40 hours/week
Under 14 Can work in business owned by parents, perform babysitting or minor chores around private home, deliver newspapers, perform in radio, television, etc. Minimum working age is 14
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Handling Workplace Safety Problems

• Steps in Problem Solving
• Define the problem
• Get advice
• Choose your goals
• Know your rights
• Decide the best way to talk to the supervisor
• If necessary, contact an outside agency for help.

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Workplace Attitudes

• Even if an employer does everything they can to
  prevent work injuries and illnesses, people still
  become injured while working. Why do you think
  that is?
• Why might a person work around hazards without
  setting up prevention measures?
• People sometimes take risks with things they know
  are hazards. Can you name some things you or
  other people do, even though they may be risky?

Source Work Safe, Work Smart curriculum. Lesson
3.
55
Workplace Attitudes

• Can you name some things you or other people
  would not do, because they are too risky?
• How do you decide how much of a risk you are
  willing to take? How do you know where to draw
  the line?

Source Work Safe, Work Smart curriculum. Lesson
3.
56
Benefits vs. Costs

• Each of us has to weigh the costs and benefits of
  being safe or taking a risk. We have to decide
  what balance between these two things is
  acceptable to us.
• Example
• Always require two people to be in store during
  close-up and cash-out

Source Work Safe, Work Smart curriculum. Lesson
3.
57
Benefits vs. Costs

• Benefits
• Extra eyes and ears to keep lookout for strange
  activity
• Feel more secure

• Costs
• More cost to the employer
• Two jobs cant be done at once (takes more time
  to close-up)

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Taking Action

• What can you do if you spot a hazard or feel
  unsafe?
• Why would you speak up or not?
• Who to contact if there are problems that still
  exist?
• When should I take action or seek outside help?
• Where to go for more information?

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Building Resources
International Resources

• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and
  Safety Young Worker Zone http//www.ccohs.ca/youn
  gworkers/
• Work Safe British Columbia Young Workers at Risk
  http//www2.worksafebc.com/Topics/YoungWorker/Hom
  e.asp
• International Programme on the Elimination of
  Child Labour http//www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Safewor
  kforyouth/lang--en/index.htm
• Youth_at_Work (Safe, fair, productive young working
  lives) presented by the Government of South
  Australia http//www.safework.sa.gov.au/youth/
• WorkSafe Saskatchewan (Canada)
  http//www.worksafesask.ca/Youth

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Building Resources
National Resources

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  (OSHA) www.osha.gov and http//www.youth2work.go
  v/
• National Institute of Occupational Safety and
  Health (NIOSH) http//www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/yo
  uth/
• Youngworkers.org http//www.youngworkers.org/home.
  htm The California Resource Network for Young
  Workers Health and Safety and home of The
  National Young Worker Safety Resource Center
• United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour
  Division (WHD) Youth Rules! http//www.youthrules.
  dol.gov/teens/default.htm
• National Childrens Center for Rural Agricultural
  Health and Safety http//www.marshfieldclinic.org/
  nccrahs/
• Gulf Coast Safety Institute www.com.edu/gcsi

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Building Resources
Georgia Local Resources

• Georgia Department of Education
  http//www.doe.k12.ga.us/ http//www.gadoe.org/
• Georgia Department of Education Career,
  Technology and Agricultural Education
  http//www.gadoe.org/ci_cta.aspx
• SkillsUSA www.skillsusageorgia.org and
  www.skillsusa.org
• Georgia Technology Student Association
  www.gatsa.org
• Georgia Engineering and Technology Education
  Association www.getea.org
• Georgia Health Occupations Students of America
  www.georgiahosa.org Construction Education
  Foundation of Georgia www.cefga.org
• Trade and Industrial Educators of Georgia
  http//tiega.org/
• MAGIC "Mentoring a Girl in Construction" , Inc.
  Summer Camp Program www.mentoringagirlinconstructi
  on.com
• Project Safe Georgia www.projectsafegeorgia.org
• American Society of Safety Engineers
  (ASSE)- Georgia Chapter http//georgia.asse.org/ 
  
• Georgia Local Section- American Industrial
  Hygiene Association (GLS-AIHA) http//www.georgiaa
  iha.org/

62
For More Information

• Email startsafe_at_gtri.gatech.edu
• Website www.startsafeonline.org
• Twitter _at_youngworker
• Facebook Start Safe
• Phone [phone]
• Address
• Center for Young Worker Safety and Health at
  GTRI
• 260 14th Street
• Atlanta, GA 30332

63
Summary

• The three main ways to control workplace hazards
  are
• Remove the hazards/build barrier
• Improve workplace policies or procedures
• Use protective clothing or equipment
• Although employers are responsible for providing
  a hazard-free work environment, we all have a
  responsibility to speak up and take action when
  we see a hazard or unsafe act.