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Show CHILDREN AT WORK Teen-Age Immaturity Is Reason For Group's High Accident Rate By Wm. R. McComb, Washington, D. C, Administrator Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions, V. S. Department of Labor Second of Two Articles Driving a truck or working at other hazardous jobs might seem like fun to teen-age youngsters, but because of their willingness to take chances and their immaturity, the price in injuries for minors under 18 is twice as high as for adult workers. Because of the tragic consequences which too often accompany employment of minors in hazardous jobs, every state in the union and the federal government have enacted laws whch set standards of employment for young people. One Federal law the Fair Labor Standards act which sets a minimum mini-mum age of 18 for employment in occupations declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor, is enforced under my direction. This statute, also known as the Wage and Hour Law, generally applies to the employment em-ployment of boys and girls in the production of goods to commerce or in interstate commerce itself, such as in the transportation and communications Industries. Under the authority granted In the Act by the Congress, the Secretary Secre-tary of Labor has issued seven hazardous occupations orders. Some of them cut across industry lines, others are confined to particular par-ticular industries. Driving Is Dangerous While many jobs have certain hazards in connection with their performance, the Secretary of Labor, before issuing a hazardous occupations order, makes a thorough thor-ough investigation to determine what jobs are particularly hazardous hazard-ous for young workers. After the investigation is made, the Secretary Secre-tary and his staff propose a new order. After this proposal has been publicized, hearings are held and employers, workers, and parents are given opportunities to be heard. Following the hearings and further study and consideration, the order is issued. One of the hazardous occupations occu-pations orders which cuts across Industry lines and which has been violated more than any of the others is that which declares hazardous the occupations occu-pations of motor vehicle driver or helper. Because of the importance im-portance of this order, I shall discuss it in detail. By driver is meant any individual individ-ual who in the course of his employment em-ployment drives a motor vehicle at any time, and a helper is any individual, other' than a driver, whose work includes riding on a motor vehicle in connection with the transportation or delivery of goods. In this order, "motor vehicle" means not only automobiles and trucks, but motorcycles, truck-tractors, truck-tractors, trailers, and semi-trailers, or similar vehicles which are propelled or drawn by mechanical power and designed for use as a means of transportation on a public pub-lic highway. The order also covers cov-ers industrial trucks intended for intraplant use when such trucks are operated In places where other motor vehicles operate. Accident Rate Higher The importance of this order to the safety of young workers is proved by accident reports from government and private sources which reveal that the fatality hazard haz-ard to young drivers is much greater great-er than that shown for older workers. work-ers. One study shows that 16-year-old drivers are estimated to have driven only about one-ninth as far per fatal accident as did drivers in their middle years, a good reason rea-son for establishing the minimum at 18 years. I want to emphasize that the scope of this order is not limited to driving or helping on autos and trucks, but to such work on all similar motor vehicles. How disregard for this hazardous haz-ardous order can lead to tragic consequences is brought out in the recital of one fatal accident. acci-dent. One night a produce company com-pany sent a truck with a 15-year-old boy as a driver and a 13-year-old boy as a helper to take a load of produce from its warehouse in one State to a city in another State. The boys started out at 1:30 in the morning and at 4:00 a.m. the truck ran Into a culvert, cul-vert, killing the driver and seriously injuring the 13-year-old helper. The employer said th?t the accident probably had occurred because the driver had gone to sleep. This 15-year-old boy had been working since 9 a.m. of the preceding morning. The second hazardous occupations occupa-tions order which cuts across Industry In-dustry lines sets an 18-year minimum mini-mum for occupations involved in I . t y - itit mnra ir"r - Fourteen and 15-year-olds may be employed In a few Jobs under certain conditions. Here Beverly Beatty, 15, Vermillion, Ver-million, South Dakota, would be legally employd as an operator op-erator of this duplicating machine ma-chine in a general office, but she would not be permitted to work in manufacturing workrooms. work-rooms. the operation of elevators or other power-driven hoisting apparatus. It applies not only to the operation of both passenger and freight elevators ele-vators by minors under 18 but also to riding on freight elevators in the course of their duties. Minors under 18, however, may ride in freight elevators operated by an assigned operator, when they are being transported to or from their workplace at the end or beginning of scheduled work periods. per-iods. Here again studies show that injuries in-juries caused by elevators result in a disproportionately high percentage per-centage of fatal injuries among young workers. These studies show, too, that the percentage of serious injuries to youngsters is also high. Death or injury may ensue if an elevator is not where it is thought to be thus a boy under 18, working work-ing as a stock clerk in a wholesale grocery in an eastern state, backed up with his loaded hand cart into an empty elevator shaft. His 25-foot 25-foot fall resulted in serious back injuries. In another case, death came to a 17-year-old messenger boy, who, while delivering some goods, leaned out over the freight elevator ele-vator he was riding on alone, and struck his head. Knocked to the floor of the elevator he brushed against the safety gate, and as it opened, he fell out and down 20 feet to the bottom of the shaft dead. Minimum Age Is Eighteen Another hazardous occupations order which cuts across industry lines to some extent is that which applies to occupations Involved in the operation of power - driven wood-cutting machines. This order also applies to off-bearing from circular saws and from guillotine-action guillotine-action clippers. I cannot emphasize too strongly that the minimum age applying to all of these hazardous hazard-ous occupations is 18 under the Fair Labor Standards act, although al-though the age for general employment Is 16. The act also provides that workers work-ers subject to it must be paid a minimum wage of at least 75 cents an hour and time and a half their regular rates of pay after 40 hours in a workweek. These provisions apply to child workers as well as adults. There are stiff penalties for violation vio-lation of the Fair Labor Standards act a fine of up to $10,000 for wilful wil-ful violation, and on second offense, of-fense, a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment im-prisonment for six months, or both may be imposed. An employer can protect himself from unintentional violations of the child-labor provisions of the Act by obtaining and keeping on file an age or empolyment certificate certifi-cate for each minor employed, showing the child to be above the minimum age provided for the job he is doing. Certificates may be obtained from local school officials or state departments de-partments of labor. |