In employment, a young person is someone who is over the compulsory school age but under the age of 18. In England and Wales, a person is no longer of compulsory school age after the last Friday of June of the school year in which their 16th birthday occurs. In Scotland, pupils whose 16th birthday falls between 1 March and 30 September may not leave before the 31 May of that year. Pupils aged 16 on or between 1 October and the last day of February may not leave until the start of the Christmas holidays in that school year. In Northern Ireland, a person is no longer of compulsory school age after the 30th June of the school year in which their 16th birthday occurs.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (or Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000) requires you to undertake a risk assessment before a young person starts work or work experience.
Try to look at your workplace from an adolescent's viewpoint. What dangers will they recognise? They may not be fully grown - will they find the workplace awkward and the tools too big?
In particular you should look at:
- How the workplace is laid out (and the particular site where they will work)
- What type of work equipment will be used and how it will be used
- How the work is organised
- The need to provide health and safety training
- The nature of any physical, biological and chemical agents they may be exposed to, for how long and to what extent
- The risks from certain work hazards.
Work they cannot do because of their age
You must not allow a young person to carry out activities when you find that a significant risk remains in spite of your best efforts to take all reasonable steps to control it.
You must protect your young employees and work experience students from the risks of accidents or ill health which they are unlikely to recognise because:
- They are inexperienced
- They have not been trained
- They may not pay enough attention to safety.
The overall rule is that young people under 18 years old must not be allowed to do work which:
- Cannot be adapted to meet any physical or mental limitations they may have
- Exposes them to substances which are toxic or cause cancer
- Exposes them to radiation
- Involves extreme heat, noise or vibration.
Young people who are over the minimum school leaving age can do this work under special circumstances which are:
- The work is necessary for their training
- The work is properly supervised by a competent person
- The risks are reduced to the lowest level, so far as is reasonably practicable.
Children below the minimum school leaving age must never do work involving these risks whether they are employed or under the following special circumstances.
Work activities permitted for children and young persons
At 13 years of age the following work activities are permitted (14 years in Scotland, but local education authority bylaws are likely to permit children aged 13 to do the following):
- Delivering newspapers
- Shop work
- Office work
- Working in hairdressing salons
- Washing cars by hand
- Work in a cafe/restaurant cleaning tables (not in a kitchen)
- Light work in riding stables
- Domestic work in hotels
- Light agricultural/gardening work (not using machinery)
There are also very detailed restrictions on the number of hours a child can work which are greatly restricted in term time and on Sundays.
Whilst of compulsory school age the following work activities are not permitted:
- Selling/delivering alcohol
- Delivering milk
- Delivering fuel
- Working in a kitchen including: use/cleaning of food slicers, mixers, food processors, potato chippers; cleaning/draining and use of fat fryers; de-boning meat
- Use of chemicals including corrosive cleaning materials, e.g. oven and beer line cleaners
- Collection/sorting of refuse including use of waste compactors
- Work in telephone sales
- Work more than 1 metre above ground (on ladders)
- Work in a cinema/nightclub
- Work as an attendant/assistant in a fairground/amusement arcade
- Work as a personal care assistant of residents in a nursing home