Learn more about hazards teens face, labor laws, rights on the job, and sources of information in the For Teens section of this site, or download the factsheets (in English and Spanish): Are You a Working Teen? or Are You a Teen Working in Agriculture?. 17-year-old Joe lost his life while working as a construction helper. An electric shock killed him when he climbed a metal ladder to hand an electric drill to another worker. How could this have been prevented? Click Here

As an educator and/or job developer who connects students to the workplace, or advises working teens, you can provide a valuable service to these teens by sharing information about job safety.

Integrating health and safety into job training or work-based learning programs can ensure that teens know how to protect themselves from harm and what to do if injured. You can also help educate employers' worksite supervisors about how to successfully train and supervise working teens with safety in mind.

What can you do to help keep teens safe at work?

Know the laws

• California's child labor laws prohibit teens from working late and/or long hours, and from doing especially dangerous work.
• Cal/OSHA's workplace safety and health regulations require that the workplace be safe, and that workers receive health and safety training on the tasks they do.

Provide health and safety training to teens as part of job orientation

Federally-funded job training programs, WorkAbility, school-to-career systems, and school-based work experience programs are all required to provide health and safety training to teens as part of their programs. Here are some suggestions and tools to help do this:

• Distribute fact sheets with work permit applications. Work permit issuers can distribute information with the work permit. Fact sheets are available in English and Spanish: Are You a Working Teen? and Are You a Teen Working in Agriculture? These short, easy-to-read fact sheets summarize the key labor and health and safety laws that can help protects teens, as well as other important workplace rights.
• Let teens know about helpful resources. Download and post/distribute our brochure listing our toll free information line.
• Get the Work Safe! curriculum, developed by the Labor Occupational Health Program. This curriculum is designed to help job trainers and educators teach teens about workplace health and safety. Topics include: identifying hazards on the job, workplace rights and responsibilities, and problem-solving on the job. New activities have been added to help teach teens with learning or cognitive disabilities.
• Teach about health and safety using one of the curricula from the Resources page.
• Participate in a health and safety training workshop for work experience educators and job trainers. See the California Resource Network for Young Worker Health and Safety page for a schedule of upcoming workshops or to inquire about scheduling a workshop.

Work with employers in your programs to make sure that on-site supervisors:

• Provide job-specific health and safety training to youth participants.
• Provide adequate supervision.
• Understand and comply with all relevant child labor and health and safety laws.

  Download Tools for Orienting Worksite Supervisors About Teen Health and Safety developed by UC Berkeley's Labor Occupational Health Program.

Participate in Safe Jobs for Youth Month -- an annual public awareness campaign.

	For more information, please visit our Resources page and Resource Network members California Association of Work Experience Educators, California Workforce Association and New Ways to Work.