OBJECTIVES. The purpose of the study was to provide descriptive data and incidence data on adolescent work-related injuries and to determine whether such injuries are underreported to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. METHODS. The study consisted of a 1-year survey of 534 adolescent work-related injuries reported to the Department of Labor and Industry and a cross-sectional survey of 3312 public high school students from throughout Minnesota. The high school survey used an abbreviated questionnaire with a subset of items from the Department of Labor and Industry survey. RESULTS. Ninety-six percent of the injuries were strains and sprains, cuts and lacerations, burns, bruises and contusions, and fractures. There were 11 hospitalizations; 4 were for burns that occurred during work in restaurants. Eighty workers (15%) reported permanent impairment as a result of their injuries. It was estimated that there were 2268 reportable injuries to working adolescents in Minnesota during the study year. CONCLUSIONS. The most common serious injuries were injuries to the lower back and burns. The demographic characteristics of adolescents whose injuries were reported to the Department of Labor and Industry were similar to those of injured adolescent workers identified through the high school survey. The results suggest that there is substantial underreporting of adolescent work injuries.

Most studies of adolescent work-related injury that have been published to date have been confined to administratively collected data available through state or national departments of labor and industry and/or occupational safety and health administrations. These data do not contain information on the severity or the sequelae of injuries. In addition, estimates of incidence may be biased due to inadequate data on the nature, amount, and seasonal variability of work done by adolescent workers. The present study is a cross-sectional survey of work and work injuries of 3,051 10th through 12th grade students from 39 high schools throughout Minnesota. Injury was defined as an event which caused any of the following: loss of consciousness, seeking medical care, and/or restricting normal activities for at least 1 day. The average hours of work per week during the summer and during the school year were 30 (95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 27, 33) and 16 (95% CI = 15, 17), respectively. There was no difference in hours worked between ethnic minorities and white students. The rate of reportable injuries was 12 per 100,000 hr worked (95% CI = 7, 18) for rural and 13 per 100,000 hr worked (95% CI = 7, 28) for urban females, 16 (95% CI = 9, 22) per 100,000 hr for urban males, and 20 (95% CI = 12, 28) per 100,000 hr for rural males. Ongoing medical problems were reported by 26% of the injured workers. Previous estimates of work-related injury to adolescents may have been low. More study is required to clearly define the incidence of injury and risk factors for these injuries.