Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog
Our Massachusetts workers’ compensation attorneys are urging all businesses to take the time and initiative this year to provide the safest work places as possible to help prevent work accidents in Boston, especially among younger people. In 2010, there were nearly 18 million workers who were under the age of 25 in the United States. These young workers made up nearly 15 percent of the country’s workforce, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Compared to most age groups, young employees have a high occupational injury rate, meaning that they’re much more likely to get injured on the job than older workers. Many of these injuries can be caused by the frequency of work hazards that these young workers face on the job. Many of these hazards can be found in restaurant settings, like working with dangerous cooking equipment, working with sharp objects like knives, and working on slippery floors.
Our Massachusetts workers compensation attorneys understand that dangerous work conditions aren’t the only thing that put these young workers at risk for a serious a work-related accident. Inexperience and a lack of safety training can also contribute to their high risks for on-the-job injuries. These young workers, many in middle school and high school, may also suffer from psychological and biological factors that can increase their injury rates. These factors can include a lack in strength, physical shape and cognitive abilities to operate large machines.
In 2009, there were nearly 400 workers under the age of 24 who were killed in work-related accidents in the United States. Nearly 30 of these deaths occurred to workers who were under the age of 18. From 1998 to 2007, statistics reveal that there were nearly 800,000 work-related injuries sustained by individuals in this young age group that were treated in emergency rooms across the country. The rate for these types of injuries for this young age group is about two times higher than the injury rate among employees who are over the age of 24.
The U.S. Public Health Service has a Healthy People objective that is being used to help reduce occupational injury rates among young workers ages 15- to 19-years-old by at least 10 percent by 2020.
Employers throughout the state are asked to make the same efforts, to help protect our young workers. Oftentimes, young employees are hesitant to speak up about dangers, hazards or injuries on the job because of the fear of being reprimanded. For parents, it’s important to talk with the young workers in your life about the rights they have. It’s our job to prepare these young ones, so let’s prepare them with a good work ethic and safe work practices to help avoid a potentially fatal work accident.
The Massachusetts workers’ compensation Lawyers at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers are here to advise injured employees in Boston, Cape Cod, Foxborough and elsewhere in Massachusetts about their rights as an employed citizen. If you or someone you love has suffered a work injury and would like to file a disability claim, call for a free and confidential appointment at (617) 777-7777.
More Blog Entries:
Massachusetts Work Accident with Hummus Grinder Kills Employee, Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog, December 23, 2011
Work-Related Accidents in Massachusetts Land State in Top Spot for On-The-Job Injuries, Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog, December 19, 2011