Prevalence of working conditions associated with adolescent occupational injury in the U.S.: a review of the literature.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Rauscher KJ ; Runyan CW
• Description:
  For millions of US adolescents work is a part of daily life. In 2011, 1.3 million 16- and 17- year-olds held formal, paying jobs [BLS 2011]. Substantial numbers of young people under the age of 16 also work [DOL 2000; Kruse and Mahoney 2000]. While the large majority of these youth return home safely at the end of each workday, others are not as fortunate. Even though adolescent workers are protected by numerous safety regulations and child labor laws, each year hundreds of thousands of workers under the age of 18 suffer from preventable work-related injuries [NIOSH 2006; NIOSH 2003] and one dies every eight days from an injury sustained on the job [BLS 2010]. And, as reported by NIOSH, an average of 42 deaths among 15-17 year olds were recorded for the period 1998- 2007 [CDC 2010]. The literature on the epidemiology of adolescent work-related injury (WRI) is limited in comparison to that of adult workers, yet a solid knowledge base has been formed by over 20 years of research. Much of this work has been descriptive, documenting the nature, severity and sources of these injuries as well as the presence of hazardous working conditions associated with injury (e.g., use of particular equipment, working alone at night, the lack of health and safety training and supervision) [Greenberger and Steinberg 1986; Runyan et al. 2007; Delp et al. 2002; Zierold and Anderson 2006a; Runyan et al. 2006; Rauscher et al. 2011; Rauscher et al. 2012]. Some analytic studies have gone farther identifying both individual and work-based risk factors for adolescent WRI. In addition to characteristics such as age, gender, race and socioeconomic status [Rauscher and Myers 2008; Zierold and Anderson 2006b, 2006c; Belville et al. 1993; Brooks and Davis 1996; Horwitz and McCall 2005; Layne et al. 1994; Miller and Kaufman 1998], several work-based factors have been identified as putting adolescents at increased risk for WRI. Among these are: working with equipment or tools [Zierold and Anderson 2006b; Frone 1998; Parker et al. 1994; Evensen et al. 2000; Brooks et al 1993; Mardis and Pratt 2003], working at a fast pace [Frone 1998; Evensen et al. 2000; Breslin et al. 2007] and working without proper supervision [Frone 1998]. All have been identified as risk factors for adolescent WRI. In addition, surveillance data have demonstrated that work in particular industries and occupations [Zierold and Anderson 2006b; Belville et al. 1993; Brooks and Davis 1996; Horwitz and McCall 2005; Layne et al. 1994; Miller and Kaufman 1998; Weller et al. 2003; Banco et al. 1992; McCall et al. 2007; Schober et al. 1988] and working without health and safety training [MDPH 2007; Knight et al. 1995] are associated with non-fatal adolescent occupational injuries. Working at night, cash handling and customer interaction have also been shown to be associated with increased risk of crime related assaults and fatalities [NIOSH 2003; Richardson and Windau 2003; Windau and Toscano 1994; Davis 1987; NIOSH 1995], particularly in retail and service settings [Moracco et al. 2000; Loomis et al. 2001; Peek-Asa et al. 2001; Jenkins 1996]. Evidence regarding the prevalence of these work-based risks is sparse, yet what is available indicates that many of today's youth are working under conditions that may put them at risk of injury. Below we outline the evidence for adolescent work-related injury risk factors and report on their prevalence as demonstrated in the literature.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Chemistry Chemistry, Analytic Chromatography Environmental Pollution Occupational Health Safety Spectrum Analysis
• Keywords:
  Adolescents Injuries Occupational Accidents Risk Factors Teenagers Traumatic Injuries Young Workers
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Conference/Symposia Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 8 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  126-136
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058893
• Citation:
  Health and safety of young workers: proceedings of a U.S. and Canadian series of symposia. Runyan CW, Lewko J, Rauscher K, Castillo D, Brandspigel S, eds. Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2013-144, 2013 May; :126-136
• Editor(s):
  Runyan CW ; Lewko J ; Rauscher K ; Castillo D ; Brandspigel S
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20060831
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2013-144
• End Date:
  20110228
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:63a7451e9f70e36778e80f0ee4807eb5dba4e291e86238b9c00abb9a418e3d901fb41e3660815cf6712369426280c8db09e33f5089948c5a6d246eb18bd6df99
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/181861/cdc_181861_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 594.66 KB ]