Protecting Young Workers in Massachusetts: Recommendations of the Massachusetts Young Worker Initiative Task Force

Roger Bourgeois, Maggie Carey, Sam Cron, Paul Fleming, Susan Scavo Gallagher, Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, Kimberly Rauscher

Research output: Other contribution

Abstract

More than 77,000 teens work in the Commonwealth. Youth reap many benefits from work, including acquisition of job and social skills, enhanced feelings of competence and independence, and income for personal or family use. Work can serve as an important learning environment reinforcing academic skills and providing hands-on learning opportunities. Families express approval and pride when teens enter the workforce. Massachusetts employers have come to rely on teens to fulfill many positions and are invested in ensuring that working teens have a positive experience.

Yet, teens are also vulnerable at work, and, in fact, have on-the-job injury rates nearly twice that of adults. In Massachusetts, it is estimated that several thousand teens less than 18 years of age seek treatment in emergency departments for on-the-job injuries each year. Over 400 teens less than 18 years of age file workers’ compensation claims annually for injuries resulting in five or more lost work days. Nationally, the average medical cost for an injured teen is $2450 (in 2001 dollars); total medical costs for occupational injuries to 16 and 17 year olds were approximately $141 million in 2001.

Workers, in general, can be exposed to many hazards on the job that can result in injury, illness, or even death. Young workers, however, are at increased risk. They are sometimes asked to perform tasks for which they lack the size, strength or experience. As new workers, they are often unfamiliar with workplace hazards, ways to avoid injuries, and their rights as workers. Positive traits, such as energy, enthusiasm and a need for increased challenge, combined with a reluctance to ask questions or make demands, lead to their taking on tasks they are not prepared to do safely

The challenge is not whether teens should work, but how to assure that their jobs are safe and do not interfere with their education. 

Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 23 Jan 2003

EGS Disciplines

  • Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene

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