Work hazards and workplace safety violations experienced by adolescent construction workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dal Santo J ; Harris TA ; Lipscomb HJ ; Runyan, Carol W. ; Schulman M
• Description:
  OBJECTIVE: To describe the working conditions of adolescents employed in construction in North Carolina, documenting hazards, safety practices, and prohibited activities. DESIGN: A cross-sectional telephone survey. SETTING: North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: Adolescents (aged <18 years) with work permits for the construction industry in North Carolina during summer 2001. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Types of jobs, work tasks, supervisory conditions, tools, equipment, and processes. RESULTS: A total of 187 survey respondents were in this study. Adolescents were employed in varied construction settings and business types. Nineteen of the 187 permitted workers were younger than 16 years, despite prohibitions against their employment in construction unless working for their parents. The remainder (n = 168) were working legally based on age, but most performed prohibited tasks. In fact, 84% of all the 16- to 17-year-olds had performed at least 1 clearly prohibited task and 47% had performed 3 or more. Although most reported being supervised and working with others, approximately 19% of all respondents reported working where they were not in hearing distance of other workers. Data were collected from teenagers with work permits, suggesting that these adolescents may work for more responsible employers. If violations of child labor laws exist in this group, it is likely that adolescents without permits are exposed to even greater hazards and violations. CONCLUSION: Involvement of teenagers in dangerous and/or prohibited tasks is cause for concern and suggests a pressing need to examine the enforcement of existing laws and the need for additional protection. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Adolescent Construction Industry Construction Materials Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Surveys And Questionnaires Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-potential Adolescents Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Hazards Health-hazards Health-surveys Injury-prevention Regulations Safety-climate Safety-measures Safety-practices Work-environment Work-operations Work-practices

  More +
• ISSN:
  1072-4710
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  160
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040953
• Citation:
  Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2006 Jul; 160(7):721-727
• Contact Point Address:
  Carol W. Runyan, MPH, PhD, Injury Prevention Research Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7505, No. 500, 137 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7505
• Email:
  carol_runyan@unc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• NORA Priority Area:
  Work Environment And Workforce: Special Populations ; Disease and Injury: Traumatic Injuries
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
• End Date:
  20030929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d86161b8225c7c7ae5cb7a869d2158b87af3d6fe017f55b7aab1dddad785417fd67a0251159d0f377055835af7eb690aba3151f5afd7232f67b4a1e3503fcb82
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193641/cdc_193641_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 97.97 KB ]