Contents

Introduction
Facts about Young Worker Safety and Health
Steps in Coordinating a Young Worker Project
Forming Partnerships with Schools
Developing Teen Peer Education Programs
Involving Parents
Linking with Job Training Programs
Including Healthcare Providers
Working With Employers
Reaching the Broader Community
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C

Including Healthcare Providers

Why health care providers should be partners

Although doctors and nurses frequently share information with their teen patients about a variety of health risks including substance abuse, obesity, and sexually transmitted diseases, they rarely discuss the risks of workplace injury. In a survey of physicians conducted in Brockton, nearly all the respondents expressed interest in the issue of workplace safety and health for young people but did not have the relevant information or materials to share with their teen patients. They agreed that they would be more likely to talk about occupational safety with their teen patients if they had information and materials available. Because of their direct contact with young people and their prominence in the community, health care providers can be effective advocates for teen worker safety and health.

Reaching out to health care providers in your community

Contact providers in community and school health clinics and elsewhere.

Introduce the issue, learn how providers distribute health information to adolescents, and discuss ways occupational safety can be included in existing practices.

Provide resources and training to medical providers.

Distribute posters, brochures, and videos to share with young patients. Look for ways to include worker safety and health information in their existing publications and services. Suggest putting a poster in the waiting room instructing young patients to tell the provider about any workplace injuries. In some States, physicians must sign work permit applications. If this is the case in your State, provide local physicians with materials to distribute to their teen patients seeking work permits.

Brockton pediatrician is surprised by teen worker issue.

We contacted a local pediatrician because we knew that he had been active in teen safety issues, particularly as an advocate for bike helmet use. We asked him to get involved in our project and to help us make contact with the State chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. At first he was skeptical about the importance of the issue, but after he began to talk to his teen patients about their work experiences, he saw it differently. In fact, he was amazed at the number of hours the teens work, the types of tasks they are asked to do, and the inadequate training they receive. Now he gives all his young working patients the brochure, Do You Work? A Guide for Working Teens and directs them to call one of the several contacts listed on the brochure. He also makes a note in their records to follow-up at their next visit.

—Robin Dewey

Consider providing training for the clinic staff so they can better answer questions about child labor laws and workplace safety. The training should include information and resources on child labor laws, safety and health training requirements, and strategies for protecting young workers on the job.

Adolescent health clinic offers resources.

While young people sit in the waiting room at the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, they can watch Teens: the Hazards We Face in the Workplace, a 13-minute video showing teens who have been injured on the job discuss ways jobs can be made safer. On Monday nights during Teen Clinic, they can talk informally with peer leaders about health issues, including occupational safety. In addition, teen worker brochures are available on the resource rack, and a Know Your Rights on the Job poster hangs on the wall. The pediatrician who serves teens at the clinic reports that after viewing the video, many patients are interested in discussing work-related concerns.

—Robin Dewey

Adolescent Health Nurse is a Resource to the Oakland Project

Early on in our project, we met with the nurse practitioner—a specialist in adolescent health—at the on-campus health clinic at Oakland Technical High School. Together we explored how the clinic could incorporate job-related issues into its health education efforts. We also invited the nurse practitioner to make a presentation to our project team on the developmental characteristics that contribute to teen worker risks. For instance, she explained that although adults and teens assess risks in similar ways, teens are also trying hard to assert their independence. As a result, they can be reluctant to ask questions of their supervisors or appear incapable in any way; they may be particularly unwilling to seek advice or help from their parents when faced with problems at work; and they turn to other teens for models of behavior.

So in our project, we looked for opportunities for peers to influence each other in positive ways, such as through peer education programs and classroom discussions. We also developed occasions for teens to practice speaking up about work problems, and we equipped teachers and other influential adults with resources on workplace issues.

—Diane Bush

Ask hospitals to provide data.

Meet with emergency department and medical records staff to explain the value of having local data on work-related injuries. Request that intake staff ask injured teens whether the injury occurred at work and that this information be coded on emergency department and hospital intake forms.

Give presentations at State meetings.

State chapters of organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society of Adolescent Medicine, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the American Nurses Association hold regular business meetings and may be interested in a presentation on the scope of work-related injuries to teens and the role medical providers can play in prevention.

Write an article for the State newsletters of these professional associations.

In lieu of, or in addition to a presentation, provide similar information in written form.

Linking with Job Training Programs

Working With Employers