MANAGING BEST PRACTICES: Before they become employees
The Department of Labor launched the "YouthRules!" initiative (www.youthrules.dol.gov) this past June, "To promote safe and rewarding work experiences for teens." Special care should be given to those just beginning their trek into the working world. But is there something we can do from an environmental health and safety/workplace viewpoint before they get to this juncture in their life?
Dr. Sandra Steingraber, a leading researcher on maternal and child health, says that, "Children very often serve as the kind of canaries in the coal mine." Children suffer injuries and illnesses before an adult does, partly because their bodies are frailer and they absorb and react to toxic agents faster than an adult.