IMPROVING SAFETY FOR TEENS WORKING IN THE RETAIL TRADE SECTOR - OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES

Background Using both quantitative and qualitative data, this study ex amined teen workers' perceptions about their work environments and the ways in which teens believe workplaces can be made safer Methods Ne c onducted telephone interviews (n = 117) and six focus groups (n = 49) with two separate samples of North Carolina teens who worked in the re tail trade sector Results Survey findings indicate one-fifth of teens used equipment they thought dangerous; nearly 40% always or often felt rushed at work; and about half received training on how to avoid inju ry. Teens in the focus groups expressed concerns about workplace physi cal hazards, the threat of assault, being rushed, and having little po wer in the work environment. They also indicated that their workplace safety training was ineffective and that child labor laws were unneces sary. Conclusions In order to be effective, interventions targeted at working teens need to address the organization of work and adolescent- manager interaction patterns. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.