National Youth Employment Safety Statistics**

• 42% of 16 and 17 year-old teens were in the labor force at any single time.
• 80%of youths are employed at some point before they leave high school.
• 200,000 teens aged 14 to 17 are injured on the job every year.
• Approximately 100,000 teens aged 15 to 17 visit emergency departments each year for work-related injuries.
• Teens are injured at a higher rate than are adult workers, even though youths are prohibited from holding the most dangerous types of jobs, such as mining, manufacturing, and construction.
• According to one study, 19% of all injuries to young workers treated in emergency rooms involved working in illegal jobs; this figure is 41% according to another study.

** Excerpts above reproduced from publication 99-141 “Promoting Safe Work for Young Workers”  published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).