Preventing Injuries to Working Teens

Even in today’s tough economy with fewer teens working than in the past, on average, over 17 % of Massachusetts 15- to 17-year-olds are employed at any given point in time.1 While work can provide benefits to teens, it can also pose health and safety risks: nationally, young workers have about twice the rate of nonfatal work-related injuries per hour worked than older workers.2 This is partly explained by the fact that teens tend to be hired into industries that pose high risk to workers of all ages, such as restaurants and health care settings. Inexperience and lack of health and safety training are also factors. More information about where and how teens are injured at work is essential to promote safer work opportunities for youth. Since 1993, the Teens at Work: Injury Surveillance and Prevention Project (TAW) at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has tracked work-related injuries to teens under age 18 and collaborated with partners on a variety of initiatives to reduce workplace hazards and prevent injuries to working teens. While there has been some success in reducing rates of work-related injuries to teens,3 the data for 2007-2011 reveal there is still work to be done. As we engage teens in workplace readiness—whether employers, schools, jobs programs, or parents—we need to provide them with basic health and safety skills that will help protect them now and in the future