Tag Archive for: injuries

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Conclusion: Teen Occupational Safety Efforts are Working But Vigilance is Needed

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One hundred years ago, 100 workers died each day in America. Today, that number—with a U.S. population 3.5 times greater—is 13. Safety training, education, and regulation works.

Teen workplace fatality rates have also been dropping over time thanks to the efforts of working teens, parents, employers, advocacy groups and state and federal authorities. Fifteen years ago, twice as many teen workers died each year. With vigilance, we can continue to reduce the number of children and teens killed in the work place.

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Teen Deaths from Driving (Segment from NCL’s Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens 2012 Report)

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The most common way for a teen worker to die is in a traffic accident. In 2010, 32,708 Americans—about 90 a day—died in car accidents. Fifteen of the 34 youth workers under 18 who died in 2010—44 percent—perished in motor vehicle accidents.

In July 2010 in Okmulgee Country, Oklahoma, 16-year-old Troy Don Kimbley was killed when the tow truck he was driving overturned on a curve and turned over two and a half times before coming to rest on its top.

NCL encourages 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 always wear their seat belt.

They should also demand that their driver focus on their driving and not be distracted by using cell phones, eating, or other disruptions. They should insist that the driver obey traffic laws and 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.

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Introduction to NCL’s Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens 2012 Report

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In late July 2011, two 14-year-olds girls, Jade Garza and Hannah Kendall went off to their temporary job of detasseling corn in a field in northwestern Illinois where they worked for the Monsanto Corporation. The girls were close friends and performing a job that many teens in the Midwest perform safely. The day was not especially unusual except the field was very wet. Somehow, one of the girls made contact with a center-pivot irrigation system that had become charged with electricity. A tremendous current went through her body. The second girl went to help and was electrocuted. Within seconds, the two girls were dead. A 13-year-old boy, working nearby wanted to help but realized that if he touched them, he would die too.

Their friends, their teachers, their families were devastated. In a typical year, 25-35 children die at work in the U.S. Fifteen years ago, that number was over 70.

This report is an attempt to educate the public about workplace dangers teen workers face with the hope that teenagers, their parents, and employers can work together to reduce accidents and fatalities. Summer jobs can contribute meaningfully to a child’s development and maturity and teach new skills and responsibilities, but the safety of each job must be a consideration.
In the following pages, the National Consumers League (NCL) identifies five teen jobs that are more dangerous than most and provides tips to help teens improve their chances of having a safe and rewarding work experience.

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Kremlin Boys Still Critical

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By Robert Barron, Staff WriterEnid News and Eagle

ENID — Two Kremlin youths caught in a grain auger remain in critical condition Sunday at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

Tyler Zander and Bryce Gannon, both 17, were seriously injured Thursday morning when they were pulled into a large grain auger at Zaloudek Grain Co. They were extricated from the auger by emergency responders and flown to OU Medical Center, where they were listed in critical condition Sunday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

A 911 call was received at about 9:10 a.m. from another worker who was in the same building where the two teens were trapped. The boys were taken from the building at about 10:30 a.m. and flown to the hospital.

Kremlin Fire Chief Derrick Harris said the boys went straight to surgery upon arrival.

The two were caught by their legs while working in the auger, and rescue workers had to cut the auger before Gannon and Zander could be removed.

The incident is under investigation by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Administration officials said the result could take up to six months to complete. There have been no previous violations at Zaloudek Grain Co.

Through mutual-aid agreements, Kremlin received assistance from Breckinridge, Enid, Hillsdale-Carrier, Hunter and Pond Creek fire departments in the incident. Garfield County Sheriff’s Department also responded, as did Life EMS, said Enid and Garfield County Emergency Management Director Mike Honigsberg.

Honigsberg said two helicopters from Eagle Med also responded

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Despite problems, egg farmer embraced by local governments Central figure in recall has history of run-ins with regulators

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By Andrew Zajac, Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau

8:23 PM EDT, August 27, 2010/WASHINGTON

Long before Austin “Jack” DeCoster became a central figure in one of the largest egg recalls in history, he had paid more than $10 million in fines and lawsuit settlements, his eggs were banned in one state and quarantined in another, and he was almost single-handedly responsible for new restrictions on child labor in his native Maine.

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NCL Report on Dangerous Jobs for Teens: Driver/Operator, Forklifts, Tractors, and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)

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[from NCL’s 2010 Five Worst Jobs for Teens]

Forklifts, tractors, and all-terrain vehicles pose dangers for many young workers. Several youth tractor accidents have been detailed in our section on agricultural fatalities and injuries. Some recent forklift and vehicle accidents involving youth:

  • On May 11, 2009, Miguel Herrera-Soltera drove a forklift up a ramp when it tipped over. The boy fell out of the forklift which landed on top of him. Fellow workers used another forklift to extricate the boy but he died at the hospital.
  • Nathan Lundin, 12, died in Gifford, Indiana in March 2009, when he was struck by an object falling off a moving forklift at his family’s business, Upright Iron Works, Inc.
  • In March 2008, a 15-year-old boy suffered a serious leg injury in a Portland, Oregon wrecking lot when a 17-year-old co-worker operating a front loader knocked over a stack of cars and part of a concrete wall collapsed onto the younger boy. No one under 18 is allowed to work in an auto wrecking area, or operate a front loader, according to The Oregonian newspaper.

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