Bush Department of Labor Not Protecting America’s Young Workers

Labor Advocacy Group Criticizing Administration for Worsening Conditions for Working Teens

February 15, 2005
Contact: Carol McKay
 or Mark Fernando
202-835-3323
media@nclnet.org

Washington, D.C—A national labor advocacy group today criticized new Labor Department regulations that go into effect this week for placing young workers at risk of serious injuries. 

“At best, the new regulations fall short of the mark, and at worst they reinforce bad laws,” said Darlene Adkins, coordinator of the Washington-based Child Labor Coalition.  “The end result is more youth engaging in risky business in the workplace.”

The new regulations are the first since the May 2002 release of a landmark report detailing dozens of deficiencies in our nation’s child labor laws. The report, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Recommendations to the U.S. Department of Labor for Changes to Hazardous Orders, recommended more than 40 changes in child labor laws to better protect America’s employed youth from dangerous jobs and equipment. In the years since the report’s release, the U.S. Labor Department’s sole response was to issue a handful of new regulations in December 2004. During this period of inaction, the Child Labor Coalition estimates that more than 600,000 working youth have been injured in the United States. 

Effective today, the new regulations allow fast food restaurants and other retail establishments to employ 14- and 15-year-olds to operate deep fryers and grills and to clean grills and empty hot oil from deep fryers that have cooled to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Since 1961, this cooking activity was prohibited for young workers.   

The Department had the opportunity to restrict the work of 14- and 15-year-olds in fast food restaurants, which employ 17.4 percent of all working 14-year-olds and 28.8 percent of all 15-year-olds. Research shows that this industry is a primary source of injuries among young workers. According to NIOSH, half of all burn injuries occur in fast food restaurants.  Of all burn injuries, nearly 50 percent are caused by hot grease.  The Labor Department readily admits that compliance with this standard will require vigilance by employers to ensure that equipment and materials have cooled to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 

“The government is acting irresponsibly by allowing young people to participate in such unsafe working activities,” said Adkins. “No one opposes employment opportunities for youth. Many jobs that don’t require cooking are available in these establishments. There’s no reason to reverse the protections previously enjoyed by America’s young workers.” 

Another regulatory change allows 16-and 17-year-olds to load paper balers and compactors that meet specified safety standards. Since 1954, youth under the age of 18 have been prohibited from any contact with these machines. The new regulation is based on the Compactor and Baler Act, enacted in 1996, which the Child Labor Coalition opposed. As with cooking, compliance with this standard will require vigilance by employers who put youth in contact with these machines — both in terms of differentiating between prohibited and acceptable machines and curtailing activity to just loading the machines. The Labor Department requires no specific training for young workers under these new regulations. 

“Issuing regulations that sometimes allow exposure to certain machines, equipment, and hot surfaces — but not to others — is confusing both to workers and employers,” said Adkins. “It’s bound to result in young workers being exposed to greater danger.”

Meanwhile, young workers still work at dangerous elevated heights, in construction, on tractors, in pesticide handling, and in exposure to lead and silica.  These hazards and more are recognized in the NIOSH report but have yet to be addressed by the Labor Department.

About the Child Labor Coalition

The Child Labor Coalition is a group of more than 40 organizations, representing consumers, labor unions, educators, human rights and labor rights groups, child advocacy groups, and religious and women’s groups.  It was established in 1989, and is co-chaired by the National Consumers League and the American Federation of Teachers.  It’s mission is to protect working youth and to promote legislation, programs, and initiatives to end child labor exploitation in the United States and abroad.