School is out, and as teens throughout the nation take on summer employment, OSHA is focusing on keeping these young workers safe and healthy. The agency recently kicked off its Teen Summer Job Safety Campaign, a multi-year campaign that will focus on industries in which young people are likely to work during high school or college.

This year's campaign theme is "Landscaping — Plant Your Feet on Safe Ground."

Said OSHA Administrator Ed Foulke: "Every year, young people join the U.S. workforce for the first time. Their enthusiasm and eagerness to succeed can put them at risk of workplace injury. We do not want to tell them to be afraid, but we do want them be to be cautious. That is why we are working to help educate teens on workplace dangers and offer solid safety tips that will help them stay safe and healthy on the job."

As part of the campaign, OSHA developed a resource kit to educate young workers, parents, employers and educators on workplace safety. The kit, which can be downloaded at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/teenworkers/index.html, offers educational resources such as fact sheets on workplace rights and responsibilities, hazards on the job, ways to prevent injuries, work hours, job restrictions and more.

In addition, a series of articles is available that discuss common summer job hazards and injuries — such as working in the sun and heat, protecting against pesticide hazards, avoiding strains and sprains, and working safely in landscaping — and how to avoid them.

Video samples of landscaping safety tips- a collection of safety demonstrations performed by high school students- along with high-resolution photos for each demonstration, are available online in the OSHA Newsroom. Background video (B-roll) is available upon request.