DIR Collaborates on Safe Jobs for Youth Month in May.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The annual observance of Safe Jobs for Youth Month in May gives state labor officials, educators and local leaders an opportunity to help protect young workers from on the job injuries.

Every summer thousands of California's young workers aged 14 to 18 begin summer jobs in industries such as food service, construction, agriculture, customer service and retail. These jobs allow youth to earn money and create positive work experiences. They can also involve injury, disability or exploitation if young workers are not informed of potential hazards and their rights.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), every two minutes a young worker is injured in the US, "it is likely that approximately 250,000 youth sustain work-related injuries and illnesses each year". That is roughly one injury every two minutes.

"California's labor, safety and health laws protect young workers," says John Rea, acting director of the California Department of Industrial Relations. "Educating teens is vital for their well-being and represents an important investment in California's economic future," Rea added.

Young workers face potential hazards from:

--Powered equipment such as box crushers, bakery machines and forklifts

--Late hours, which increase risks and vulnerability to crime

--Long hours, which create potential hazards when working alone and experiencing frequent contact with the public

--Unsafe or broken equipment

--Cooking with hot oil and on hot cooking surfaces

There are child labor laws that protect teens from doing dangerous work and special hours they can work according to their age.

For example, in California, no worker under 18 may:

Drive a motor vehicle on public streets as part of the job

--Drive a forklift

--Use powered equipment like a circular saw, box crusher, meat slicer, or bakery machine

--Work in wrecking, demolition, excavation, or roofing

--Handle, serve, or sell alcoholic beverages

--Work where there is exposure to radiation

Also, no one 14 or 15 years old may:

--Do any baking or cooking on the job (except cooking at a serving counter)

--Work in dry cleaning or a commercial laundry

--Do building, construction, or manufacturing work

--Load or unload a truck, railroad car, or conveyor

--Work on a ladder or scaffold

Safe Jobs for Youth Month events:

--Throughout the state youth groups are carrying out various activities to bring young worker safety and labor rights awareness to their communities. Please call press release contacts to find the youth group activities in your area.

--A joint child labor photo exhibit of Lewis Hine and the Global Village: Photography for Social Change at the City of Oakland Dalziel Building, April 10-May 12, 2006. Opening reception May 2, 2006, 6pm - 8pm.

--Special tours of the Hine photos and workshops for teachers and students, May 3-12, 2004

--2006 Safe Jobs for Youth Month resource kit available for free, to plan workshops or events in your community. Call 1-888-933-8336 or visit www.youngworkers.org

--Job safety and labor law fact sheets for teens working in a variety of industries are available on the Department of Industrial Relations' Web site at www.dir.ca.gov.

The California Partnership for Young Worker Health and Safety brings together key representatives from government agencies and statewide organizations that are involved with California youth employment and education issues or that can otherwise play a role in educating and protecting young workers. Participants include the Department of Industrial Relations' and its Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation, the University of California at Berkeley's Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP), the University of California at Los Angeles' Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) Program, the California Center for Civic Participation and The California Wellness Foundation.

Editor's note: Interviews with young workers and young worker safety experts can be arranged.