Teen workers' exposures to occupational hazards and use of personal protective equipment.
Authors
Runyan-CW; Vladutiu-CJ; Rauscher-KJ; Schulman-M
Source
Am J Ind Med 2008 Oct; 51(10):735-740
Abstract
BACKGROUND: prior research indicates that working adolescents seek care for the toxic effects of on-the-job chemical and environmental hazard exposures. METHODS: this cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of 866 adolescent workers in the retail and service sector examines their exposures, personal protective equipment (PPE) use, and training. RESULTS: two-thirds of respondents were exposed to continuous, very loud noise, 55% to thermal hazards and 54% to chemical hazards. Few teens reported using any PPE, though those who had been trained reported somewhat higher usage. CONCLUSIONS: teens working in the retail and service sectors experience a variety of chemical, thermal, biologic and noise exposures. Efforts to eradicate such exposures need to be complemented by increased provision of PPE and appropriate training in their use by employers.
Keywords
Age-factors; Age-groups; Injury-prevention; Safety-education; Training; Retail-workers; Personal-protective-equipment; Protective-equipment; Chemical-hypersensitivity; Thermal-effects; Heat; Heat-exposure; Biological-effects; Noise-exposure; Noise-pollution; Noise-sources; Statistical-analysis
Contact
Carol W. Runyan, UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, 137 East Franklin Street, CB#7505, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7505
Document Type
Journal Article
Email Address
carol_runyan@unc.edu
Identifying No.
Grant-Number-R01-OH-003530
Priority Area
Work Environment and Workforce: Special Populations
Source Name
American Journal of Industrial Medicine
Performing Organization
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
