Wash. Workshop Promotes Teen Job Safety

A workshop scheduled for Tuesday, June 8, in Wenatchee, Wash., will reportedly help local employers prevent on-the-job injuries to young workers.

Teen workers are reportedly injured on the job twice as often as adults, causing pain and suffering for young workers and increasing costs for employers due to lost productivity and workers’ compensation expenses.

“Supervising for Safety” features L&I child labor specialist Mary Miller and is sponsored by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) and Wenatchee SkillSource. It is one of a series of workshops presented statewide by L&I.

The Wenatchee workshop will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Lower Level Conference Room, Wenatchee Public Library, 310 Douglas St. Participants are invited to bring their lunch or order a boxed lunch from the Cellar Café ($7). Admission to the workshop is free.

Participants may register and order a box lunch, if desired, by contacting Cindy Blaufuss at SkillSource, (509) 663-3091 or cindy@skillsource.org. Questions should be directed to Teria Kelley at the Community Action Council, (509) 662-6156 or teriak@cdcac.org.

The workshop will inform local business owners and managers about the special needs of young workers, rules that apply to them, basic safety requirements, and how to prevent common injuries that young workers suffer on the job. The workshops also cover teen labor laws, as well as general injury-prevention strategies that are useful for workers of all ages.