11 Results tagged “young workers”

Young workers + injuries + labor law violations = huge penalties

Every summer, we beat the drum about the moral mandate of keeping young workers safe. But as with many things, the morale mandate all too often speaks to employers in a soft voice while money shouts in a big voice. So if "doing the right thing" isn't enough of a reason to keep kids safe, there's also a big economic...

Call to action for teen farmworker safety: Two boys lose legs in OK grain bin auger accident

Two Oklahoma teen athletes had their lives changed forever after becoming entangled in a grain bin auger while working on a farm. News reports state that 17 year old Bryce Gannon was working at a grain bin elevator when his leg was caught in the auger. In an all-too-familiar attempted rescue scenario, his co-worker 17 year-old Tyler Zander went to...

Against the Grain: OSHA Puts Bin Operators On Notice

As we noted in a blog earlier this year, the number of fatalities in grain bins reached record levels in 2010. There were 51 grain bin accidents last year, up from 38 in 2009 and the most since tracking began in 1978. Twenty-five people died, and five of them were children under age 16. The previous record for grain bin...

5 most dangerous jobs for teens & resources for keeping young workers safe

Every year as summer approaches and kids join the work force, many for the first time, the National Consumer League (NCL) offers its updated list of the 5 most dangerous jobs for teens, along with excellent advice for parents and teens on keeping the work experience safe. In 2011, their picks for the most dangerous teen jobs are: Agriculture: Harvesting...

The Pizza Delivery Chronicles, Part One: Liability

Every time I see a marginal car with a pizza delivery sign slapped onto the roof, I think about the driver. How old? How experienced? How desperate to make a few bucks in a tough economy? And from the employer's viewpoint: how competent is the driver? Just how far must an employer go before they entrust a driver with the...

After 2 teen deaths, OSHA puts grain handling facilities on notice

Farm work is hazardous business. Recently, we focused on the deaths of two Michigan teen farmworkers who were killed while working in a silo. Last week, we learned about the recent deaths of two more young workers who died in an Illinois grain bin which is owned by Haasbach, LLC. Wyatt Whitebread was 14 years old and Alex Pacas was...

Flighty Health Wonk Review and sundry other news blurbs

Jaan Sidorov has an air travel themed Health Wonk Review posted over at Disease Management Care Blog, which he calls "frequent flyer miles for your brain." There's a roundup of assorted news on the health care policy front ranging from a post on the growth of MinuteClinics to a look at hospital quality surveys. Get your dose of the news...

Two farmworking teens killed in silo; media is mystified

From Michigan, we learn the tragic news of the silo-related deaths of two teens on a farm. Victor Perez, 18, was a recent high school graduate who had worked on the farm for about 4 years. His co-worker Francisco Mendez Martinez, 17, had been on the job for about a month. News reports are thin and shrouded in mystery. One...

Parental alert: 2010's Five Worst Teen Jobs

On this blog, we are usually speaking to employers or workers. Sometimes we are addressing people in the insurance industry - claims adjusters, safety professionals, insurance geeks, and the like. But today we have a different target audience: parents of teens who are about to embark on their first summer job. Parents: please do not assume that your kids health...

Lost Youth: the stories of four teens injured at work

In a few weeks, millions of teens will be joining the work force, many for the first time. For most, nothing out of the ordinary will occur, but for about 70, their jobs will be lethal. About every three minutes, a teen is injured on the job. Worksafe BC has compiled the true stories of four ordinary kids whose first...

Workplace safety: the moral mandate of protecting young workers

Candace Carnahan lost her leg to a conveyor belt when she was 21 years old while working at a Canadian paper mill. She's thankful to be alive - if a co-worker hadn't heard her screams, she would have been pulled into the machine to her death. She now devotes her time to bringing the workplace safety message to the 18...