Young worker fatalities Involving violations of the US child labor laws, 2001 - 2012: National study using data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injury

The objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which occupational fatalities among youth under the age of 18 involve violations of the federal child labor laws. We used 12 years of data (2001-2012) from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. We investigated hours and job/task violations. Violations were determined by examining age, relevant employment and incident variables, and cross-referencing this information against the applicable federal child labor laws at the time the injury occurred. Descriptive statistics were calculated and chi-square tests of significance were used to detect differences across the demographic and employment characteristics examined. Among the 406 fatalities identifed, 231 involved employment subject to one or more of the federal child labor laws. In 44% of these cases, the minor decedent was working in violation of one or more federal child labor laws. The majority of violations were related to job/task prohibitions (43.42%). Among the cases where agricultural restrictions on tasks apply (not working on one’s family farms, under age 16), 45% involved one or more violation. Among the cases where the non-agricultural task restrictions apply, 43% of cases involved a violation. Violations were also more likely in cases where the decent was fatally injured during the school year and where the decedent worked in a business with less than 50 employees. The lives of more young workers could be saved through increased enforcement of the child labor laws and efforts to better educate employers on the laws.