Media News releases EPID news Teenagers with retail, service jobs at risk of injury, robberies, sleep deprivation | Teenagers with retail, service jobs at risk of injury, robberies, sleep deprivation |
| March 04, 2007 | |
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Despite federal regulations intended to protect them, many teenagers in the U.S. use dangerous equipment or work long hours during the school week, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study. The national study was based on telephone surveys of 928 teenaged workers, 14 to 18 years old. The results show 52 percent of males and 43 percent of females use dangerous equipment such as box crushers and slicers, or serve and sell alcohol where it is consumed, despite federal child labor laws prohibiting these practices. The results were published in the March 1, 2007 edition of the journal Pediatrics. Additionally, 84 percent of females and 61 percent of males handle
cash in their jobs, exposing them to risks associated with robberies.
Homicides during robberies were the cause of up to one half of all
youth fatalities in the retail trade.  Photograph of Dr. Carol Runyan Many teens younger than 16 years old reported working after 7 p.m. on school nights, which is illegal, Runyan said, and suggests the need for better enforcement of child labor laws. Some teens said they worked after 11 p.m. on school nights, potentially interfering with school or sleep. "Though there are benefits to work, not enough attention has been paid to safety," Runyan said. "Federal and state child labor laws are designed to restrict the working environments, tasks and hours that teens work. However, the data we collected suggest there are gaps in how well businesses are complying." About one third of the teens surveyed said they had not received any safety training, Runyan said. And others who were trained did not receive instruction in some critical areas, such as what to do in case of robbery or how to deal with arguments or fights among coworkers. "Greater supervision and training in difficult situations that arise in retail and service sector jobs would really benefit these teens," Runyan said. "We need to remember that workers need to be trained to deal with such situations. The fact that so many teens in our survey reported working one or more days a week without any adult supervision suggests the potential for serious lapses in safety. "Parents need to be aware of the work their children are doing and
get involved in helping to ensure that businesses provide a safe work
environment," Runyan said. She also called on physicians working with
adolescents to be more aware and ask teens about work as part of
standard medical practice.  Photograph of Dr. Michael Bowling # # # Note: Carol Runyan can be reached at 919-966-3916 or carol_runyan@unc.edu. School of Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, (919) 966-7467, ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
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| Last updated March 06, 2007 |
