A teenager is hurt on the job every 40 seconds and one dies every five days. According to the National Pediatric Trauma Registry and the National Center for Health Statistics, occupational injuries are the fourth leading cause of death among youth ages 10 to 19 years;led only by motor vehicle crashes, violence, and recreational injuries. Teenagers are about twice as likely as adults to suffer injuries resulting in workers'compensation claims and emergency room visits. Safety training and workplace supervision are important elements in preventing occupational injury in young workers. Limited information about the safety training experiences and workplace supervision exists for teen workers. Most of the data is limited to prevalence estimates captured by surveys of teens. The proposed pilot study, by a new investigator, will evaluate work-place safety training, workplace supervision, work habits, and occupational injury among a diverse group of working high school teenagers. Questionnaires will be administered to over 3,500 teens in three large, diverse public high schools in Jefferson Country, Kentucky. The questionnaires, which will be developed by the investigators using focus groups and cognitive interviews with working teens, will be administered two times during the grant period;once in May to capture teen's experiences during school-year employment and once in September to capture teen's experiences during the summer. The data from the questionnaires will be used to accomplish three specific aims: (1) delineate the nature and amount of safety training that the teenagers have received during their current employment and determine if differences exist between races, genders, ages, and occupations, (2) delineate the nature of workplace supervision and determine if differences exist between races, genders, ages and occupations, and (3) determine if teenagers with structured safety training and workplace supervision are less likely to report being injured at work. This project has several strengths including: (1) it is the first and only study to address safety training and workplace supervision among a large sample of teenagers, (2) it will be the first study to evaluate teen's understanding and experiences of safety training, (3) it will enroll a racially and ethnically diverse population of teens, so that the investigators will be able to compare experiences across race and ethnicity, as well as gender and age, (3) it will be the first to address the role of safety training and supervision in workplace injury. No studies to date have evaluated teenager's experiences with safety training and supervision, including what teens define as training. Safety training and supervision are important elements in preventing work-related injury. Information from this study can be used to begin developing an effective program based on teen's needs and experiences. Public Health Relevance: Injury among working youth is a major public health problem. The National Pediatric Trauma Registry and National Center for Health Statistics report that injuries due to occupation rank fourth in injuries among youth aged 10 to 19 years, led only by motor vehicle wrecks, violence, and recreational injuries. Safety training and workplace supervision are two methods useful in preventing occupational injury. Currently, there is limited information regarding safety training and supervision for teen workers. The information that does exist on safety training is limited to prevalence estimates and there is no information about workplace supervision. This study will be the first to conduct an in-depth assessment of safety training and supervision among teenage workers. In addition, it will be the first to evaluate the role safety training and supervision play in work-related injury.
Injury among working youth is a major public health problem. The National Pediatric Trauma Registry and National Center for Health Statistics report that injuries due to occupation rank fourth in injuries among youth aged 10 to 19 years, led only by motor vehicle wrecks, violence, and recreational injuries. Safety training and workplace supervision are two methods useful in preventing occupational injury. Currently, there is limited information regarding safety training and supervision for teen workers. The information that does exist on safety training is limited to prevalence estimates and there is no information about workplace supervision. This study will be the first to conduct an in-depth assessment of safety training and supervision among teenage workers. In addition, it will be the first to evaluate the role safety training and supervision play in work-related injury.
| Zierold, Kristina M (2016) Perceptions of Supervision Among Injured and Non-Injured Teens Working in the Retail or Service Industry. Workplace Health Saf 64:152-62 |
| Zierold, Kristina M (2016) Safety training for working youth: Methods used versus methods wanted. Work 54:149-57 |
| Zierold, Kristina M; McGeeney, Teresa J (2016) Communication breakdown: How working teens' perceptions of their supervisors impact safety and injury. Work 54:3-9 |
| Zierold, Kristina M (2015) Teen worker safety training: methods used, lessons taught, and time spent. New Solut 25:25-41 |
| Zierold, Kristina M; Welsh, Erin C; McGeeney, Teresa J (2012) Attitudes of teenagers towards workplace safety training. J Community Health 37:1289-95 |
