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Summer Jobs Can Be Dangerous

May 5, 2001
As summer approaches, the adolescent mind turns to thoughts of summer -- and, perhaps, a summer job promising adventure, independence and big bucks. But parents should think twice about where they want their teens working over the summer. Each year about 70 teens are killed on the job in the United States. Another 70,000 are injured badly enough to require treatment in the emergency room. In fact, the rate of on-the-job injuries is consistently higher for teens than for adults in nearly every occupation.

Here are just a few things to look out for:

Jobs Involving Driving

Sure your kid would like to buzz around town delivering pizzas, but aside from such risks as traffic accidents and hold-ups, there's a strong likelihood your insurance rates will skyrocket if you child uses his or her car for business use. Also, under current federal law, 16-year-olds are prohibited from jobs that involve regular driving. Seventeen-year-olds may engage in "occasional and incidental driving" provided the automobile or truck does not exceed 6,000 pounds and driving is restricted to daylight hours.

Sweatshops on the Street

Every city is loaded with scam artists looking for ways to exploit kids. This includes signing up teens to sell candy, magazine subscriptions and other consumer goods door-to-door and on city streets. Often these promoters claim to be affiliated with a charity. In fact, nearly all of these schemes are rip-offs -- the money does not go to charity, the kids are mistreated and, in many cases, endangered. Crew leaders often have criminal records.

Traveling Sweatshops

Even worse are the organization that truck teens over great distances to sell magazines and other items door-to-door. Many teens have been killed, injured, molested and scammed by these organizations.

In one especially notorious incident, a 1999 van crash near Janesville, Wis., killed seven people and left five others injured. The van was being operated by Youth Employment Services Inc. of DeWitt, Iowa, whose owner and manager was charged with 13 felonies in connection with the accident.

Prohibited Occupations

Federal law prohibits anyone under 18 from doing any of the following:

• Operate many types of powered equipment like a circular saw, box crusher, meat slicer, or bakery machine.
• Work in wrecking, demolition, excavation, or roofing.
• Work in mining, logging, or a sawmill.
• Work in meat-packing or slaughtering.
• Work where there is exposure to radiation.
• Work where explosives are manufactured or stored.

Those who are 14 and 15 are barred from jobs that require them to:

• Bake or cook on the job (except at a serving counter).
• Operate power-driven machinery, except certain types which pose little hazard such as those used in offices.
• Work on a ladder or scaffold.
• Work in warehouses.
• Work in construction, building, or manufacturing.
• Load or unload a truck, railroad car, or conveyor.

More Info

• Child Labor Coalition
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Dedicated Memorial A site operated by parents who have lost children in magazine-subscription incidents.

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