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A few days before Thanksgiving in a small Virginia town called\u00a0Poquoson, Frank Gornik, 14, was removing storm debris for his uncle\u2019s company. The boy, a freshman in high school, fed branches into a wood chipper. He used a shovel to help force the branches and that shovel was grabbed by the machine and\u2014in an instant\u2014swallowed the boy and killed him.<\/p>\n
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Each year, 35-40 teens die similarly unimaginable deaths in workplace accidents\u2014tractor rollovers, work-related car accidents, drownings in grain silos. Here at the National Consumers League, we try to monitor these deaths to prevent them from occurring. A decade ago, the number of working teens who died on the job was about double what it is today. The\u00a0Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the\u00a0National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, federal and state departments of labor, nonprofit organizations and employers worked together to help bring the number of deaths down, but we must keep working to reduce that number even further.<\/p>\n
Sadly, although it was a freak accident, Gornik\u2019s death was preventable. The boy was much too young to work with such deadly equipment. Over the years, state and federal officials have realized that teens lack the judgment and experience to operate some hazardous machinery and\u00a0require workers to be 18 to use them (although some exemptions are made for agriculture). Because of their ability to inflict massive and instantaneous damage,\u00a0wood chippers are among the proscribed machines. Under the Bush administration, the U.S. Department of Labor refused to enact\u00a0NIOSH-recommended changes to the \u201chazardous orders\u201d regulations that would have improved teen worker safety protections. It is our understanding that under Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis\u2019 leadership, the department is working to update those regulations and close some current exemptions that allow teens to perform dangerous work.<\/p>\n
Although Gornik had his share of sadness\u2014 according to local\u00a0newspaper reports, he lost both parents in a two-year stretch between 2005 and 2007\u2014he was remembered by many fellow students for his ready smile and helpfulness. He was a very popular student who played sports and made the honor roll, and the Poquoson community continues to grieve his loss.<\/p>\n