Danger stalks teens on the job

Second of two parts

Nery Castaneda tackled a job not intended for teens.

One afternoon last fall, the 17-year-old Guatemala native ran a machine to grind damaged pallets into mulch. When a co-worker at the Greensboro plant returned from another task, he didn't see Nery -- until he looked inside the shredder.

"A person shouldn't die like this," said Castaneda's older brother, Luis. "He came with a dream and found death."

Decades after the enactment of rules designed to prevent such tragedies, thousands of American youths still get hurt on jobs deemed unsafe for young workers. Federal statistics show that on a typical day, more than 400 juvenile workers are hurt on the job. A young worker is killed once every 10 days, on average. Enforcement has waned, despite new evidence that many employers are ignoring child labor laws. Since fiscal year 2000, investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor have dropped by nearly half.

"There are lots of kids being asked to do work that's been prohibited for them -- and it's been prohibited because it's dangerous," said Carol Runyan, who heads UNC's Injury Prevention Research Center. "Our system is failing them."

More than 3 million youths under the age of 18 work. Regulations prohibit those juveniles from doing a variety of hazardous jobs, including most meat processing jobs.

Six youngsters were among workers detained last month after an immigration raid at a House of Raeford plant in Greenville, S.C. Three young workers told the Charlotte Observer they were under 18 when they held jobs at House of Raeford plants requiring them to make thousands of cuts a day with sharp knives. The company says it requires job applicants to present identification showing their age, but not all the documentation is accurate.

At Agriprocessors, a large meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, authorities recently charged the owners with thousands of child labor violations after finding that teenage employees were asked to use circular saws, clean floors with powerful chemicals and perform other dangerous tasks.

"The raids in Postville and Greenville show that 15- and 16-year-old kids are doing some of the most dangerous jobs in America," says Reid Maki of the National Consumers League. "It's time for the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate slaughterhouses and poultry plants."

A study of 16- and 17-year-old construction workers in North Carolina, published in 2006, found that more than 80 percent did tasks that were clearly prohibited. A national survey of young retail and service workers, published in 2007, found that more than half of boys and more than 40 percent of girls performed prohibited tasks.

Runyan, who co-wrote both studies, says much of the blame lies with employers. "I suspect there are employers who flagrantly disregard the law. And I suspect there are others who are clueless."

Little deterrent

Employers who flout child-labor rules often face few consequences.

Federal law allows a maximum penalty of $11,000 for each violation, but in 2006 the average penalty was less than $1,000, according to the National Consumers League. Total federal penalties for child labor violations dropped 29 percent from 2000 to 2007.

Federal child labor laws cover large employers, as well as smaller companies engaged in interstate commerce. Most states also have their own child labor laws, which usually cover small employers and impose additional restrictions. But state penalties tend to be smaller.

Under North Carolina law, the maximum fine for each violation is $250. In cases where employers fail to ensure that juvenile workers get youth employment certificates, the maximum penalty is $50 for each violation. That "doesn't seem to be a whole lot of deterrent," says state wage and hour director Jim Taylor, who is in charge of enforcing the state's child-labor laws.