Adolecent worker fatalities involving child labor and OSHA violations in North Carolina (1991- 2008)

Purpose: Hundreds of thousands of US adolescents are employed in violation of the child labor laws annually putting them at risk of injury and death. We examined work-related fatalities in North Carolina among 11- to 17-year-olds during 1991-2008 to determine whether violations of the child labor laws (CLL) and OSHA standards were implicated. We also determined the extent to which cases were investigated by the US and NC Departments of Labor. Methods: Data from the NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner were used to identify work-related fatalities. These data, along with NCDOL and USDOL investigation reports, were reviewed to determine if CLL or OSHA violations were implicated in the deaths. Results: Fifteen of the 31 adolescent work-related fatalities we identified involved a youth who was injured doing a prohibited job/task. Operating motor vehicles and doing roofing work were the two most common violations. Eleven cases involved an OSHA violation. Among the cases for which enforcement activity could be determined, 9 were investigated by the USDOL (4 had CLL violations), 1 was investigated by the NCDOL (1 work permit violation) and 11 were investigated by the NC Division of Occupational Health and Safety (all had violations). Conclusions: Half of the adolescent workers fatally injured on the job in NC since 1990 were killed because they were performing tasks that violated the US CLL and/or OSHA health and safety standards. The extent of investigations of adolescent worker fatalities by enforcement agencies needs improvement to better detect violations and hold employers accountable.