If you can\u2019t measure it, you can\u2019t fix it.<\/p>\n
Panelists at the New York State Assembly\u2019s Committee on Workplace Safety said on Wednesday that a major obstacle to reducing the high rate of workplace injuries among youth is the lack of a central database that tracks them. This, in turn, hinders the identification of trends, such as whether workers in certain jobs are injured more than others, said Robert Grey, 45, a worker\u2019s compensation attorney.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t prove there\u2019s a problem, because the information isn\u2019t there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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According to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, workers between the ages of 15 and 25 are twice as likely to be injured on the job than older workers. In New York State, more than 10,000 workers between the ages of 16 and 24 were injured in 2009, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n
The overlap between the two agencies\u2019 data sets is telling, says Grey, who represents the New York Center for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH). He said the system is flawed because it does not track youths\u2019 state employment certificates, or \u201cworking papers\u201d, which school officials must issue before minors may take a job. \u201cThe working papers are not collected by any part of the state, so the Worker\u2019s Compensation Board doesn\u2019t get all of the claims,\u201d he said, explaining that the certificates are kept on file only by the employer. \u201cThe system is totally useless,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Without accurate data, many agencies involved in the issue, such as the New York State Department of Labor and the Workers\u2019 Compensation Board, can\u2019t even agree on the definition of a young worker. For example, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines young workers as those between the ages of 15 and 24. However, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics separates out its data into 16 to 19-year-olds and 20 to 24-year-olds.<\/p>\n
The distinction is significant, said Grey in his testimony, pointing out that of the nearly 10,000 lost-time injuries involving 15 to 24-year-olds between 2007-2009, the majority were incurred by 18 to 19-year-olds who no longer need an employment certificate.<\/p>\n
Mark Humowiecki, 39, deputy director of policy and program development with the Workers\u2019 Compensation Board, agrees with Grey\u2019s assessment. Many agencies rely on the board\u2019s data, which shows a 176 percent decline in claims filed by youth under 18. But he\u2019s not confident about the completeness of the data. \u201cI don\u2019t think this data tells the whole picture. We don\u2019t know what\u2019s happened to the rate of accidents, because we\u2019re not comparing the number of employees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Improving data collection is not the only way to improve worker safety among young people, said others on the panel, which included representatives from state and federal agencies and unions. For example, workplace safety training, said a representative from the United Federation of Teachers, is critical for minors, who have a lack of knowledge of workplace culture and may be less skilled than older workers.<\/p>\n
Grey, however, continued to emphasize the need for a database of youth workers as a prerequisite to discussions on safety training. \u201cThe starting point is you have to centralize data collection. The easiest way to do that is by centralizing the working papers program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you can\u2019t measure it, you can\u2019t fix it. Panelists at the New York State Assembly\u2019s Committee on Workplace Safety said on Wednesday that a major obstacle to reducing the high rate of workplace injuries among youth is the lack of a central database that tracks them. This, in turn, hinders the identification of trends, …<\/p>\n