Special Considerations Regarding the Young Worker

1. Special Considerations Regarding the Young Worker or What Makes the Young Worker Different?

2. Young workers have a higher rate of injury per hour than adults • Injuries for young workers are estimated to be between 210,000-315,000 each year workers* and there were • 44 deaths in 2002** • 16 youth <16 years • 28 16-and 17-year-olds *Castillo, Davis & Wegman, 1999 **Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2002

3. The Changing US Workforce • In the next decade the youth population (ages 16-24) is expected to increase as a share of the workforce.

4. Young Workers at Risk • The experience factor • General lack of experience + normal adolescent psychological development = high injury risk • Accident rates are higher evenfor young workers with experience* *Institute of Medicine, 1998

5. Hazardous Orders • Prohibit most workers under age 18 from working in “hazardous occupations” • eg, roofing, coal mining, driving a motor vehicle • Limit the hours for some young workers • Prohibit some tasks for most workers under 18 • See Child Labor Provisions of the FLSAct • http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/docs/haznonag.asp

6. YES for ages 14 & 15 3 hrs/ day Between 7a-7p Office work Retail food service NO for anyone <18 Roofing Driving Operating powered machines Powered meat slicing FLSA & Hazardous Orders: A Few Examples

7. Contributing Factors to Increased Risk for Young Workers • Adolescence is a time of rapid growth • Injuries carry a greater risk of having long term consequences • Ergonomic factors • Smaller size & lighter weight • Work is an burden to the young body when combined with school and leisure activities

8. Contributing Factors to Increased Risk for Young Workers • Cognitive and behavioral factors • Knowledge often lags behind decision making ability • Sleep needs • Adolescents need as much as 9.5 hours/night • Often a difficulty when working & going to school

9. Young Workers Get Hurt When: • They don’t have appropriate supervision • They perform jobs for which they are not trained – sometimes without being asked • They work with dangerous tools or equipment • They are required to perform tasks that violate youth employment laws

10. Prohibited Occupations for Non-Agricultural Employees. • The child labor rules that apply to non-agricultural employment depend on the age of the young worker and the kind of job to be performed. 14 years old is the minimum age for non-agricultural employment covered by the FLSA.

11. In addition to restrictions on hours, the Secretary of Labor has found that certain jobs are too hazardous for anyone under 18 years of age to perform. • There are additional restrictions on where and in what jobs 14-and 15-year-olds can work. These rules must be followed unless one of the FLSA's child labor exemptions apply

12. A youth 18 years or older may perform any job, whether hazardous or not. • A youth 16 or 17 years old may perform any non-hazardous job. (See the list of hazardous occupations below.) • A youth 14 and 15 years old may not work in the manufacturing or mining industries, or in any hazardous job. (See the list of hazardous occupations below.) In addition, a 14- or 15-year-old may not work in the following occupations:

13. Communications or public utilities jobs; • Construction or repair jobs; • Driving a motor vehicle or helping a driver; • Manufacturing and mining occupations; • Power-driven machinery or hoisting apparatus other than typical office machines; • Processing occupations; • Public messenger jobs; • Transporting of persons or property; • Workrooms where products are manufactured, mined or processed; • Warehousing and storage.

14. A 14- or 15-year-old may work in retail stores, food service establishments and gasoline service stations. However, a 14- or 15-year-old may not perform the following jobs in the retail and service industries:

15. Baking; • Boiler or engine room work, whether in or about; • Cooking, except with gas or electric grilles that do not involve cooking over an open flame and with deep fat fryers that are equipped with and utilize devices that automatically lower and raise the baskets in and out of the hot grease or oil; • Freezers or meat coolers work; • Loading or unloading goods on or off trucks, railcars or conveyors; • Meat processing area work; • Maintenance or repair of a building or its equipment; • Operating, setting up, adjusting, cleaning, oiling, or repairing power-driven food slicers, grinders, choppers or cutters and bakery mixers; • Outside window washing, or work standing on a window sill, ladder, scaffold or similar equipment; • Warehouse work, except office and clerical work.

16. The jobs a 14- or 15-year-old may do in the retail and service industries include: • Bagging and carrying out customer's orders; • Cashiering, selling, modeling, art work, advertising, window trimming, or comparative shopping; • Cleaning fruits and vegetables; • Clean-up work and grounds maintenance - The young worker may use vacuums and floor waxers, but he or she cannot use power-driven mowers, cutters, and trimmers; • Clean cooking equipment, including the filtering, transporting and dispensing of oil and grease, but only when the surfaces of the equipment and liquids do not exceed 100° F; • Delivery work by foot, bicycle, or public transportation;

17. Kitchen and other work in preparing and serving food and drinks, but not cooking or baking (see hazardous jobs); • Office and clerical work; • Pricing and tagging goods, assembling orders, packing, or shelving; • Pumping gas, cleaning and polishing cars and trucks (but the young worker cannot repair cars, use garage lifting rack, or work in pits); • Wrapping, weighing, pricing, stocking any goods as long as the young worker does not work where meat is being prepared and does not work in freezers or meat coolers.

18. Complete Child Labor Exemptions • The Fair Labor Standards Act provides for certain exemptions. Youth younger than 16 years of age working in a business solely owned by their parents or by persons standing in place of their parents,  can work any time of day and for any number of hours. However, parents are prohibited from employing their child in manufacturing or mining or in any of the occupations declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.

19. In addition, the child labor rules do not apply to: • Youth employed as actors or performers in motion pictures, theatrical, radio, or television productions; • Youth engaged in the delivery of newspapers to consumers; and • Youth working at home in the making of wreaths composed of natural holly, pine, cedar, or other evergreens (including the harvesting of the evergreens).

20. Employer Awareness • Be aware of FLSA restrictions with regards to hours and jobs/tasks • Train managers and young workers • Question young workers regularly about types of equipment they are using • Monitor compliance with restrictions • Post warning stickers or a stop sign on hazardous equipment • Check out http://www.youthrules.dol.gov/ca.htm for more “TIPS”

21. For More Information • You can also contact the CNMI-OSHA On- site Consultation Office at (670) 236-0913/88/9 or Fax us at (670) 664-3158 or; • Email your questions to: guerrero.ray@dol.gov • Or Visit our office at the CNMI Department of Labor located at 2nd Floor Afetnas Building, San Antonio