Injury severity among working teenagers as related to safety training

Purpose: Teenagers have twice the risk of occupational injury as adult workers, and sustain an estimated 230,000 injuries per year. Safety training has been suggested as a means of injury prevention, but little research on safety training exists. This study aimed to describe the safety training that teenagers receive, and identify the associations between training methods and injury. Methods: Data was collected from teenagers attending public high schools in Jefferson County, Kentucky. This study involved both qualitative methods and quantitative methods of data collection. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 42 teens in April-May 2010. A survey of over 3,000 students was completed in January-February 2011. Results: Forty-two teenagers were interviewed, of which 52% had been injured at their current job and 48% worried about getting hurt at work. Most teens reported receiving safety training before starting work. Many of those interviewed reported watching videos and taking quizzes for their safety training. Several found this type of training “boring”, and a number voiced the need for hands-on training, and “actually going through the motions” before working alone. Recently collected data will help to determine associations between injury prevalence, the severity of injury, and safety training. Conclusions: Safety training may be a powerful way to reduce injury rates among working teenagers, but it is essential that effective, age-appropriate methods be used. This study is the first to define the amount, methods, and quality of safety training received by working teenagers and to assess its role in injury prevention.