A 16-year-old construction worker suffered head injuries and fractures while performing a hazardous task he was legally too young to do, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which cited Waymar Construction Co. for violating child labor and safety laws.

The teenager suffered cranial trauma and fractures from falling off a scissor lift during roofing operations at a Sandusky job site on May 23.

The Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division has assessed civil money penalties of $30,350 for allowing a minor to operate a hoisting device and perform roofing work in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act's child labor provisions.

The division found that Waymar Construction violated the FLSA's child labor standards by employing a worker less than 18 years old to perform hazardous jobs prohibited by the act. The FLSA establishes a minimum age of 18 for certain nonagricultural occupations that the secretary of labor finds and declares to be particularly hazardous for, or detrimental to the health and well-being of, 16- and 17-year-old workers.

Waymar Construction also was found to be in violation of the overtime provisions of the FLSA, for paying workers "straight time" wages for hours worked over 40 in a week. The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular hourly rates of pay, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week.

Additionally, OSHA cited the company for one willful safety violation for failing to ensure workers were protected from fall hazards and one serious safety violation for failing to provide fall protection training. Proposed penalties for these violations total $20,020.