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It\u2019s that time of the year. Teenagers are starting to think about their summer jobs. Where will they work? What kind of work will they do? What will it pay?<\/p>\n
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2010\u2019s Five Worst Teen Jobs<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2008, approximately 2.3 million adolescents aged 15 to 17 years worked in the U.S. Unfortunately, the global recession has impacted teen hiring here in the U.S. and jobs are particularly hard to come by for teens these days. According to the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0in April 2010, the U.S. economy lost 8.2 million jobs in the previous two years and the teen unemployment rate had risen 26 percent, compared to 9.7 percent for the nation at large. Increasingly, teens are competing with more experienced adults for jobs. The National Consumer League (NCL) worries that the difficulty in finding jobs will lead teens to take jobs that are too dangerous for them.<\/p>\n Jobs for teens are an important part of youth development, providing both needed income and teaching valuable work skills, but we urge teenage workers to ask an important question: Will the job I take be a safe one? The wrong choice could harm you or even kill you.<\/p>\n Each day in America, 14 workers die. In 2008, 34 workers under 18 died in the workplace.<\/p>\n Teenagers are particularly vulnerable to accidents both in normal life and at work. Accidents are the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 19. In fact, more youth between 10 and 19 die from injuries than die from all other causes combined.<\/p>\n The last six months have seen a number of gruesome news stories about teen work deaths:<\/p>\n Could these deaths have been prevented? Two of the jobs mentioned above are on our list of \u201cWorst Jobs for Teens\u201d that we recommend teenagers avoid. The 14-year-old killed by the wood chipper, Frank Gornik, was too young to be legally working with potentially deadly equipment like a wood chipper. Better knowledge of the law, which requires a worker to be 18 to work with a wood chipper, may have prevented his death.<\/p>\n \u00a0Deaths from Driving<\/strong><\/p>\n The most common way for a teen worker to die is in a traffic accident. According to one recent study on unintentional injuries, seven in 10 accidental deaths result from car crashes. In 2008 data from the federal government, 43 of 97 deaths of workers under 19 came in transportation accidents.<\/p>\n We encourage young workers to look for jobs in which they do not drive, are not regularly driven by others or are not driven great distances. When in a car, young workers should wear their seat belt. They should ask that their driver not be distracted by using a cell phone, eating, or other disruptions. They should insist that they drive at safe speeds. According to several studies, the perception that driving in rural areas is safe is very misleading. Rural crashes are more frequent and more severe on a per capita or per mile basis. One report estimated that some rural counties are 100 times more dangerous than many urban counties.<\/p>\n Restaurants, Grocery Stores & Retail Stores<\/strong><\/p>\n In terms of raw numbers, retail establishments, restaurants, and grocery stores are three of the largest employers of teen workers.<\/p>\n Many teens work in restaurants are at risk of burns and other kitchen-related injuries. In some states, restaurants rank first in the number of youth work injuries, although the injuries are often less severe than in many of the occupations cited in this report. Fryers, meat slicers, knives, compactors, and wet, greasy floors can all combine to form a dangerous work environment.<\/p>\n At times, teenagers work in what is typically a safe environment but do unsafe tasks. For example, grocery stores employ a lot of teen workers and for the most part they provide a safe work environment. However, when workers are rushing or are improperly trained accidents can happen. Workers under 18 are allowed to load trash compactors\u2014found in most grocery stores\u2014but they are prohibited from operating them because of a number of gruesome accidents that have occurred to users in the past. Safety specialists worry that improperly trained youth will not obey the law. Similarly, minors\u2014unless they are working in agriculture–are not allowed to drive a forklift, but young people will sometimes get behind the wheel anyway.<\/p>\n Last year, a woman, barely 18, working in a grocery in Indiana, lost her hand trying to clean a grinder in a grocery store. In April, a New York supermarket was cited for illegally employing a 17-year-old to slice deli meat in violation of child labor hazardous orders.<\/p>\n Retail stores may seem like a safe environment but teens can get hurt lifting boxes, cutting boxes open, crushing boxes, and falling from ladders.<\/p>\n Mall and grocery parking lots are often the site of car accidents and can also be dangerous for young workers.<\/p>\n Nearly all work places hold some danger. Our goal is not to paralyze teen workers with fear but to get them and employers to minimize the risks involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n Workplace Violence<\/strong><\/p>\n Restaurants and retail establishments also hold risks of workplace violence. According to 2008 federal data, 17 workers between the ages of 16 and 19 died from workplace violence.<\/p>\n In January, an Illinois teenager was beaten and sexually assaulted after being abducted from the sandwich shop where she worked alone at night. In some inner cities, young fast-food workers have reported routinely having to deal with gang members who come in to harass and rob them.<\/p>\n Teen workers should not be asked to work alone at night<\/strong>. Employers should discuss security procedures with employees in detail. The Illinois teen who was abducted had become aware that a suspicious person was watching her but did not call the police. She texted her concerns to her boyfriend who rushed to the workplace. He arrived too late to prevent the abduction<\/p>\n Causes of Injuries<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the causes of workplace injuries typically fall into these seven categories:<\/p>\n The most common causes of death for the 97 young workers (under 19) who died in 2008:<\/p>\n Of those 97 youth deaths, in 34 cases the worker was under 18. Of those 34 deaths, 23 involved 16- and 17-year-olds and 11\u2014or 32 percent\u2014involved workers under 16. If parents are thinking that employers would only permit older teens to do dangerous tasks and that younger teens are safer, the statistics do not support that logic.<\/p>\n Males are much more at risk than females. Only one in every 14 adult workers who died at work was a women. Of the 5,071 workers who died in 2008, 1.9 percent were 19 or under.<\/p>\n Many youth involved in workplace accidents are fortunate enough to escape death but receive serious injuries. In 2007, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that there were 48,600 work-related injuries and illnesses among youth 15 to 17 years of age that were treated I hospital emergency departments. NIOSH believes that two out of three injury victims do not go to the emergency room and that the real number of injured workers is about 146,000\u2014or 406 every day.<\/p>\n The National Consumers League issues the 2010 Five Worst Teen jobs to remind teens and their parents to help youth workers to choose their summer jobs wisely. Summer jobs can contribute a lot to a child\u2019s development and maturity and teach new skills and responsibilities but the safety of each job must be a consideration.<\/p>\n Many teens lack the experience and sense of caution needed to protect themselves from workplace jobs. In government speak, \u201cyoung workers have unique and substantial risks for work-related injuries\u2026because of their biologic, social, and economic characteristics.\u201d They are reluctant to refuse to do tasks because they are dangerous or to ask for safety information.<\/p>\n\n
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