Young persons at work

Youngsters leaving school to start work are vulnerable because  

Particular conditions concerning the employment of young persons are contained in MSHW. 

Problems faced by young persons starting work 

In making the transition from school to work young persons need to 

Where work involves any of the following processes or materials, special attention should be paid to training, protecting and supervising young persons  

The Health and Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1997 require employers employing young persons to  

The above restrictions do not apply to part-time work in a concern owned by and employing only members of the same family. 

Youngsters taken on or given employment under any of the Goverment s training for employment schemes should be treated as employees and given the same training and supervision as full time youngsters. 

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DrThomas Percival (1740-1804 report on young persons at work in textile mills)... 

Employers must protect young persons at work from risks to their health and safety which are the result of lack of experience, or absence of awareness of existing or potential risks or because they have not yet fully matured. Young persons may not be employed in a variety of situations enumerated in the Regulations, which pose a significant risk to their health and safety. The exception to this is young persons over school leaving age ... 

Biological limits are also in force for lead and its compounds under the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 1998 different blood lead action, and suspension from work, levels apply to women of reproductive capacity, young persons and other employees. 

Personal means individual. You might not want to discuss your personal problems at work. Personnel means employees. The personnel at my company are mostly young and enthusiastic. 

The directive has two major purposes the prohibition of children from working and the protection of young people below the age of 18 years from economic exploitation and risks to their safety and health. Child means any young person of less than 15 years or who is still subject to compulsory full-time schooling under national law. An adolescent is a young person of at least 15 years age but less than 18 years of age who is no longer subject to compulsory full-time schooling under national law. 

The hours are terrible, I personally have to have 3 babysitters in order to keep my job. I have a young child that orginaUy had a 8 oclock bed time, I had to move her bed time to 9 b/c i couldn t get off work, make the deposit, pick her up from the sitter and get her home in time for a bath and bed at 8. When she is sick it puts a hardship on my store, my Manager expects me to be back at work and close after i take her to the doctor. We are spread very thin. I have to carry heavy loads and work on large product orders by myself b/c I am here for multiple hours alone. 

Typical of the machines at which young persons should not work without proper training and supervision were listed in the Dangerous Machines (Training of Young Persons) Order 1954 While this Order has been revoked, it does provide a useful list of machines at which special precautions are necessary if young persons are employed. 

Employees and contractors who work full time at the site or workplace are the most obvious groups at risk and it will be necessary check that they are competent to perform their particular tasks. However, there may be other groups who spend time in or around the workplace. These include young workers, trainees, new and expectant mothers, cleaners, contractor and maintenance workers and members of the public. Members of the public will include visitors, patients, students or customers as well as passers by. On a construction site, the persons at risk could be site operatives, surveyors, transport drivers, building inspectors, other visitors and the general public. 

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSW) in reg. 1 give two important definitions firstly, that a child is a person who is not over compulsory school age, and, secondly, that a young person is one who has not attained the age of 18. 

For lead workers periodic medical examination is a statutory requirement. Blood samples should be taken as required for haemoglobin and lead. Lead level in normal blood is about 20 xg/100 ml but for lead workers can be 40-60 ig/100 ml. The acceptable upper limit of blood lead concentration, cited as action levels in the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 in adults is 50 xg/100ml except men who have worked in lead for many years. For young persons is 40 xg/100ml and for women of childbearing age the limit is 25p.g/100ml. 

Employers have an absolute duty to make suitable and sufficient assessment of health and safety risks, including risks from fire. They must take into account employees and others who may be affected by their work activities. The purpose of the risk assessment is for the employer to be able to ascertain what they have to do to comply with their legal obligations. Particular attention has to be given to assess risks where young persons (that is, people under 18 years of age) may be at risk. This regulation also requires employers to record the results of risk assessments and to review risk assessments. 

Regulation 19 is set in the most general terms, and contains a duty on employers to ensure that employed young persons are protected whilst at work from any risks to their health or safety which result from their lack of experience, of awareness of risks or any lack of maturity (paragraph 1). In particular (paragraph 2), young persons cannot be employed to do work beyond their physical or psychological capacity, or which involves ... 

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