Group says manual labor not safe for teens, should be avoided

I kid you not.

Summer has begun and teens everywhere are looking for ways to enter the work force. But according to the National Consumers League (NCL), which on June 21 released its list of the Five Worst Teen Jobs in 2006, young adults should be careful about the types of jobs they take.

Darlene Adkins, NCL vice president for fair labor standards policy, called for parents and teens alike to consider safety in summer youth employment.

This year's list includes both work that is currently prohibited for minors and work that should be prohibited, based on compelling statistics on occupational injury and death to working youth provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). According to NCL, five of the worst teen jobs in 2006 are:

Agriculture – Fieldwork and processing
Construction and work in heights
Outside Helper – Landscaping, groundskeeping and lawn service
Driver/Operator – Forklifts, tractors and ATVs
Traveling youth crews

The National Consumer League goes on to suggest that the federal government should prohibit teenagers from working in these types of jobs. It sounds like they would go so far as to prohibit teens from working on family farms - activities that include applying fertilizer, driving tractors, driving ATV's, and operating chain saws. What a crock. Read more from these nitwit busybodies here.