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Archived News Release--Caution: information may be out of date.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Public Affairs

OPA Press Release: Teens at Work: Keep it Safe this Summer [05/06/1999]

For more information call: (202) 219-8211

Millions of teenagers will be heading off to summer jobs in the next few weeks. "Make it a safe summer," Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman reminded employers, teens and their parents today as she launched her annual Work Safe This Summer campaign.

That reminder will pop up over and over this summer as Loews Cineplex Entertainment projects it across movie theater screens in 22 states. And 37 million shoppers will carry it home on their bags from K-Mart. Both companies are large employers of teens and they have joined Secretary Herman in reminding employers and young workers that teens do get hurt and killed on the job and those injuries and deaths are preventable.

"Seventy teens are killed on the job each year," Herman said. "And another 210,000 are injured. Those rates are falling but not fast enough. Our teenagers should not be harmed by working."

Most teens work in retail fast food restaurants, supermarkets and stores. But they also work in nursing homes, schools, amusement parks and summer camps. Some work on farms. Most injuries and deaths result from driving cars or using heavy equipment and power tools, all prohibited by child labor protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employers are breaking the law when they let young workers drive tractors or operate fork lifts. Many young people are burned by hot grease in fast food outlets or suffer injuries when they slip and fall. Others have lost fingers operating meat slicers or dough mixers or suffered serious cuts while handling sharp knives used to open boxes at grocery stores.

Jobs considered too dangerous for workers under 18, and prohibited by federal law, include driving, operating saws, roofing, excavating and operating power-driven meat slicers, dough mixers, paper balers and wood-working machines.

"Parents should check out where their teens are working and what jobs they are assigned," Herman said. "Tell your child that it is okay to say no if asked to do a dangerous job. Learn the laws that protect your teen and be sure your teen knows them, too."

The Labor Department has an employer guide, a poster with tips for work safety and other materials available on the Internet at www.dol.gov/dol/teensafety.htm or from local offices of the department's Wage and Hour Division listed in the blue pages of the telephone directory.

Work Safe This Summer is sponsored by the Labor Department, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Consumers League and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the National Association of Theater Owners, and the National Recreation and Park Association.

Archived News Release--Caution: information may be out of date.