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Here's what you can do!
Understand and comply with state and federal child labor laws and occupational safety and health (OSHA) regulations. Child labor laws prohibit teens from working late or long hours and from performing certain hazardous tasks. OSHA regulations that apply to your business cover all employees, regardless of age.
Before starting a new job, a Maine teen under 16 years old must obtain a work permit from the school department where he or she lives. They cannot start work until the Maine Department of Labor approves the permit. Teens under 16 must have a work permit even if they do not attend school. You must keep permits on site until the teen no longer works for you. Work permits are issued for a particular job and a particular employer; teens are only allowed to do the work for which the permit was issued.
Start by identifying potential hazards and reviewing past injuries. Simple redesign of work areas, tasks, procedures or equipment can often eliminate hazards without expensive changes. For free help identifying and controlling hazards, call SafetyWorks! at 1-877-SAFE-345 (TTY: 1-800-794-1110).
Teens are different from adults physically, emotionally and in the way they think. Always take this into account when training your young workers. Give teens clear instructions for each task they must do. Provide safety training during orientation (hands-on whenever possible) and review specifics as teens begin to do each task. Make sure they know that doing a job right includes doing it safely.
Demand that supervisors and older employees set good examples by following safety rules. Make sure supervisors who give work assignments know the laws, including the hours teens can work and the jobs they can do. Have them observe teens working to see that they are doing tasks as trained. Create an atmosphere that encourages teens to speak up when there is a problem or instructions are unclear. Keep in mind that teens are reluctant to let others know when they don't understand something and are often injured trying to do more than they have been trained to do.
Set up a health and safety committee of managers and employees (both teens and adults) that meets regularly to identify hazards and address problems. Employees know their jobs and workplaces well and often have insightful ideas about injury prevention.
All Maine employers must post the State Child Labor Laws poster. For a copy, call the Maine Department of Labor at 207-624-6400 (TTY: 1-800-794-1110 for deaf and hard of hearing) or download it from: Child Labor Poster