Effect of Safety Training and Knowledge of Child Labor Laws on Reported Injuries among Working Youth: Results of School

1. Effect of Safety Training and Knowledge of Child Labor Laws on Reported Injuries among Working Youth: Results of School Based Surveys Janet Abboud Dal Santo1 J.Michael Bowling2 1Duke University 2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Funding: R01 OH03530-02 from The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health

2. Introduction • About 80% of adolescents work during high school years • Young workers are at increased risk of injury than adult workers with an estimated 400 young workers injured on the job every day • Injuries have a negative impact on the physical, mental and psychological development of youth workers as well as on their educational achievement • Studies on the effect of safety training, knowledge of child labor laws and injuries among youth workers are limited • Child labor laws are designed to protect young workers from working in hazardous occupations and from working long hours that can have adverse effects on their health and safety and on their educational attainment • There is limited information on the adequacy and effectiveness of existing workplace safety training programs in preventing injuries among youth workers in the industries where they are likely to work

3. Objectives • Examine associations between safety training, knowledge of child labor laws and reported injuries among teens • Investigate safety training in industries where the majority of teen injuries occurred • Implications for youth safety interventions to address the gaps in education and training of teens and for targeting interventions at industries where injuries are more likely to occur and where safety training is lacking

4. Methods • School-based surveys • Conducted in 32 randomly selected high schools in North Carolina and South Carolina (October–December 2005) • Teens who had worked in any paid job (referent job) outside the home during the two years prior to the survey completed the entire questionnaire • Excludes: domestic and agricultural employment • Anonymous 15–20 minute questionnaire • Non-working students completed sociodemographic section only

5. Survey Response • Using CASRO definition response rate is 73.8–86.6% for North Carolina survey and 82.2–91.1% for South Carolina • A total of 1655 working teens completed the whole questionnaire • A total of 2089 non-working students completed socio-demographic section only

6. Selected Characteristics of Working Teens

7. Injured Teens Safety Training, Knowledge of Child Labor Laws, and Duration of Employment

8. Weighted Number (%) of Students with Reported Injuries by Safety Training and Knowledge of Child Labor Laws

9. Associations between Safety Training, Knowledge of Child Labor Laws, and Injuries among Working Teens

10. Unadjusted Associations between Type of Work and Safety Training among Working Teens

11. Unadjusted Associations betweenType of Work and Injuries among Working Teens

12. Weighted Frequencies and (%) of Injuried Teens Reporting Safety Training in Industries where Injuries Occurred

13. Discussion • Results suggest that the training teens received was not associated with reported injuries. • Teens’ knowledge of restriction on hours of work was associated with reported injuries but knowledge of restrictions on kinds of work and how late teens can work were not associated with reported injuries • Teens who work in the construction industry or in landscaping/mowing companies are more likely to get injured than teens who work in other occupations • Teens who work in the food industry and in recreational facilities are more likely to get trained than teens working in other occupations • At least half of teens with reported injuries had receiving some kind of safety training when working in food industry, construction, landscaping/mowing, and recreational facilities

14. Limitations • Did not verify veracity of self report by working teens which may have resulted in recall bias • Surveys did not employ state-wide random sampling procedures which may limit external validity of the study (generalizability) • Teens who worked in domestic employment or in agriculture were excluded from the study • School-based survey so high school drop-outs were not represented

15. Conclusions The lack of any type of safety training by at least half of teens who reported serious injuries merits further investigation It appears that the safety training teens receive in industries where the majority of injuries occur is ineffective in preventing injuries suggesting the need to tailor injury prevention programs to the developmental needs of teens and tasks that they perform Results support previous findings on the lack of use of protective equipment by injured teens suggesting the need for more adequate supervision and better training on the use of personal protective devices Findings suggest the need for injury prevention programs to specifically target industries where the majority of teen injuries occur; construction sites, food industry, landscaping and mowing companies, and recreational facilities

16. Acknowledgement Funding: R01 OH03530-02 from The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Christian Douglas provided assistance in data analysis Lynn Tuttle provided assistance in formatting, design, and editing