A comparison of owner/operator and worker perspectives on workplace safety in the West Virginia logging industry.

Background: The logging industry is known to have one of the highest rates of fatal and nonfatal occupational injuries in the United States. Perspectives on why this study is so hazardous may differ between logging company owners/operators and workers. In this study, we explored and compared the safety perspectives of logging company owners/operators and workers in West Virginia.

Risk Perceptions of Cellphone Use While Driving: Results from a Delphi Survey.

Cellphone use while driving has been recognized as a growing and important public health issue by the World Health Organization and U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Work-related deaths among youth: Understanding the contribution of US child labor violations.

Background: Evidence shows that violations of the United States (US) child labor regulations are common. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the magnitude and nature of work-related deaths among youth involving violations of US child labor regulations.

Methods: We analyzed Census of Fatal Occupational Injury data from 2001 to 2012 using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests.

Occupational fatalities among young workers in the United States: 2001-2012.

Background: While adolescent workers in the United States (US) are protected by child labor laws, they continue to suffer fatal occupational injuries. This study was designed to provide a comprehensive profile of occupational fatalities among this sub-population of US workers.

Methods: Using Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data between 2001 and 2012, we calculated descriptive statistics and rates to examine the magnitude and nature of fatalities among workers under age 18.

Factors affecting high school teacher adoption, sustainability, and fidelity to the "Youth@Work: Talking Safety" curriculum.

Background: Our objective was to identify individual- and organizational-level factors that affect high school teacher adoption, sustainability, and fidelity to the occupational safety and health curriculum, "Youth@Work: Talking Safety."

Methods: We analyzed survey data collected from 104 high school teachers across the US who were trained in the curriculum since 2004. Linear and Cox regression were used to examine bivariate associations between individual and organizational-level factors and the outcomes of interest.

A validity study of self-reported daily texting frequency, cell phone characteristics, and texting styles among young adults.

Background: Texting is associated with adverse health effects including musculoskeletal disorders, sleep disturbances, and traffic crashes. Many studies have relied on self-reported texting frequency, yet the validity of self-reports is unknown. Our objective was to provide some of the first data on the validity of self-reported texting frequency, cell phone characteristics including input device (e.

Occupational health literacy and work-related injury among U.S. adolescents.

Building on the concept of 'health literacy' used in the U.S., we developed an analogous measure specific to safety in the workplace labeled 'occupational health literacy' (OHL) and investigated whether OHL is a protective factor against work-related injury (WRI) among adolescents.

Using death certificates and medical examiner records for adolescent occupational fatality surveillance and research: a case study.

Death certificates and medical examiner records have been useful yet imperfect data sources for work-related fatality research and surveillance among adult workers. It is unclear whether this holds for work-related fatalities among adolescent workers who suffer unique detection challenges in part because they are not often thought of as workers. This study investigated the utility of using these data sources for surveillance and research pertaining to adolescent work-related fatalities.

Young worker safety in construction: do family ties and workgroup size affect hazard exposures and safety practices?

Objective: Little is known about how social aspects of the work environment influence exposures or safety practices affecting young construction workers. Our objective was to investigate whether working on a construction site with a small number of workers (≤10 vs. 11-50) or having a family-firm connection (working in a family-owned firm or one in which a family member also works) impacts hazard exposures and safety practices.

Parental involvement with their working teens.

Adolescents work in varied environments and are exposed to hazards. Parents of these working adolescents have an opportunity to help them select jobs and address worker safety issues with employers. The present study conducted telephonic interviews among a national sample of 922 working adolescents along with one parent of each to examine the involvement of parents in their children's employment and safety issues.

Work-related fatalities among youth ages 11-17 in North Carolina, 1990-2008.

Background: Local and national surveillance systems are in place that identify occupational deaths. However, due to certain restrictions, they are limited in their ability to accurately count these deaths among adolescent workers.

Methods: In this population-based study, we relied on primary data from the North Carolina medical examiner system to identify and describe all work-related fatalities among North Carolina youth under age 18 between 1990 and 2008.

Construction firm practices and manager beliefs regarding the employment and safety of teenaged employees: a North Carolina based study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the reported practices of construction firms and the beliefs of firm managers/supervisors with respect to employing youth under age 18 and ensuring their safety.

Participants: The participants in this study were firm representatives from 54, mostly small to medium sized, construction firms in North Carolina.

Methods: Survey responses were analyzed for the entire sample and within strata of firm size (1-10, 11+ employees) using descriptive statistics.

Awareness and knowledge of the U.S. child labor laws among a national sample of working adolescents and their parents.

This study investigated awareness and knowledge of U.S. child labor laws among a nationally representative sample of 677 working adolescents and their parents.

Hazardous task recognition among U.S. adolescents working in the retail or service industry.

Background: Although the hazardous tasks adolescent workers perform in service and retail industries are well documented, little is known about the extent to which young workers recognize these tasks as hazardous or dangerous.

Methods: Using data from a nationally representative cross-sectional telephone survey conducted in 2003, we examined hazardous task recognition among 858 adolescents working in the retail or service industry.

Results: Approximately 13% (n = 123) of respondents reported that they consider at least one of their job tasks to be hazardous or dangerous.

Teen workers' exposures to occupational hazards and use of personal protective equipment.

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.

US child labor violations in the retail and service industries: findings from a national survey of working adolescents.

Objectives: We investigated child labor violations among US adolescents working in the retail and service industries.

Methods: We used interview data from a nationally representative sample of working adolescents, and investigated reports of select child labor violations (e.g.

Workplace violence against adolescent workers in the US.

Background: Workplace violence is a significant problem yet most research on this topic has focused on adults. Despite facing numerous employment conditions that raise their risk for workplace violence, adolescent workers have received inadequate attention.

Methods: Survey data from 1,171 US students ages 14-17 were analyzed using descriptive statistics to investigate the incidence and perpetrators of physical attacks, verbal threats, and sexual harassment.

Socioeconomic disparities in the prevalence of work-related injuries among adolescents in the United States.

Purpose: To explore whether socioeconomic disparities exist in the prevalence of work-related injury among adolescents ages 14-18 in the United States.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of previously collected survey data was performed. Data were gathered in a single metropolitan high school and included work-related injury prevalence and two measures of socioeconomic status (SES): mother's education level and working to support one's family.