Many teens and young adults in Texas find employment during the summer months. While summer employment is very beneficial to young workers, it also carries with it a variety of workplace hazards. It is important for even younger workers to be safe on the job and understand what to do if a workplace injury does occur.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration also reported that serious accidents are higher among workers aged 24 and younger compared to older workers. The occurrence of these accidents may even be as much as two times higher. Injuries to teens have also increased over the years. While most of these are relatively minor, strains and sprains being the most common, serious and even fatal accidents do occur. In 2015, 403 young workers died due to work-related injuries, with 24 of those workers being under the age of 18.
Workplace injuries to teens and other younger workers can be mitigated with better supervision and training. One expert in the industry reported that even relatively minor jobs like cleaning and disposing of trash expose younger workers to some of the most common injuries like strains and falls. Supervisors and employers may take skills for such tasks for granted or assume that they require no training, but this is often not the case. Ensuring that teen workers are properly trained for whatever tasks they are doing and also prepared to avoid injury can keep them safe on the job.
Teen and young workers are also subject to special regulations in most states that prohibit certain kinds of tasks and work environments. Parents can help keep young workers safe by getting the details of the employer’s practices and training and discussing injuries or questionable practices with an attorney. Injuries do not have to be due to negligence to file a workers’ compensation claim.