Communication breakdown: How working teens’ perceptions of their supervisors impact safety and injury

Young workers and safety: A critical review and future research agenda

INTRODUCTION

Research on young worker safety often relies on inconsistent definitions of young workers and poorly delineated indicators of occupational safety. This review aims to reconcile these fundamental issues by critically integrating research across disciplines and providing clear directions for future research on young worker safety.

METHOD

We critically review the extant research on young worker safety.

RESULTS

We first reconcile the inconsistent definitions of young workers and specify the indicators of occupational safety used in young worker safety research. We next describe the prevalence of workplace injuries and population-level predictors of these injuries among young workers and then outline other factors that increase young workers' susceptibility to workplace injuries. Finally, we discuss the convergence of many of these issues on family farms-a context commonly studied in young worker safety research.

CONCLUSIONS

Clearer definitions of young workers and indicators of occupational safety can improve the interpretation and comparability of extant research findings. Furthermore, the prevalence of workplace injuries and population-level predictors of injury among young workers are subject to the interactions among age, gender, minority status, and job characteristics. Other factors that increase young workers' susceptibility to injury include young workers' responses to hazardous work, individual differences stemming from young workers' biological and psychological development, managerial attitudes about young workers, and the limited safety training young workers are thus provided, the types of work that young workers typically perform, and the range of social influences on young workers.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Safety campaigns and safety training should consider interactions among young workers' age, gender, minority status, and job characteristics, rather than considering these features independently.

The prevalence, seriousness, and causes of teenage work accidents: A gender difference?

BACKGROUND

Teenage workers are prone to a higher injury risk than adult workers, and adult men are prone to a higher risk of work injuries than adult women.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to examine whether gender differences exist in teenage work accidents, the level of the accidents, their causes, and the types of the injuries.

METHODS

A survey was sent to a sample of 2,800 13-19-year-olds, randomly selected from Registers Iceland. The response rate was 48.6%. A chi-square test, CI 95%, was applied to measure gender differences.

RESULTS

In total, 16.3%of the respondents had at least one work accident, and 1.2%, an accident that lead to more than one week's absence from work. No gender differences were observed in the level of the accidents, but appeared in the types of injuries and their causes. Cuts were the most common injuries of the boys, but burns of the girls. Bone fractures were the most serious injuries of the boys, but sprains of the girls.

CONCLUSION

Work accidents among teenagers are a particular threat to public health. Therefore, all stakeholders need to work together to prevent teenage work accidents in the future; and to keep in mind the gender diversity of the group.