SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — More Washington teens are hammering away at their summer jobs as employers are once again permitted to bring them on full-time during the summer season.
More Washingtonians under 18 are entering the workforce, according to a Washington State Labor and Industries manager. There were 38,000 minor work permits issued in the fiscal year 2022.
Some of the statistics about their safety are concerning, however. Last year, a record number of businesses, 138, were cited for child labor violations, which an agency spokesperson said is “the most in recent memory.” Those citations totaled $686,000 in fines: the largest amount for a single year.
Longview resident Matt Pomerinke is all too familiar with what can happen if young people at work are not adequately trained.
"It’s horrible," Pomerinke said. "It’s one I'll never forget."
At 21, Pomerinke was working at a Washington lumber mill when the unthinkable happened.
"And I gotta sit there and I gotta watch as that sprocket dig through my arm," Pomerinke said.
Pomerinke's arm got caught in an unguarded conveyer drive chain.
"I just wanted to be one of the guys," Pomerinke said. "I wanted to fit in with the crew. Didn't ask a lot of questions, didn't advocate for myself, and I mean, ultimately it cost me my arm because of it."
Pomerinke's arm had to be amputated below the elbow, and his life was forever changed.
"I never got to show my son how to swing a baseball bat," Pomerinke said.
His story is unfortunately one of many in Washington. The state's Labor and Industries agency reported the state’s seeing more workers under 18 getting hurt, too.
Last year 787 minors got hurt at work, according to Bryan Templeton, Manager for the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
"It is extremely high," Templeton said.
That number includes injuries at a Snoqualmie golf course called The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge, according to Templeton. He said its owner, Evergreen Alliance Golf Limited, overworked minors more than 250 times. The golf course paid $27,000 in fines as a result.
Templeton said officials started investigating when they heard about a story from their kitchen.
"There was a minor worker working in a kitchen using a knife and they had cut themselves," Templeton said.
Meanwhile, Pomerinke has since become a fierce advocate for workplace safety for young people.
"In the last 10 years, I think we've talked to roughly 60,000 kids," Pomerinke said.
Pomerinke is a contracted partner with Labor and Industries' Injured Young Workers Speakers Program and he speaks about safety at schools across the state.
"It is so much more important," Pomerinke said. " There's so much turnover, and so many people going into new jobs right now, that a lot of times, it's new people training new people training new people. And when you start getting that direction, you start losing little bits and pieces of it."
As for why more minors are entering the workforce, Templeton said he believes one "huge" reason is the array of labor shortages across Washington industries. Some employers, he said, are perhaps more likely to hire younger people with less experience.
Generally, the legal age to work in Washington State is 14. Before an employer can hire a minor, they must obtain a minor work permit endorsement on their business license, a completed and signed parent/school or summer authorization form, and a "proof of age" document.
Additionally, state law said employers cannot work minors more than eight hours a day, or during school hours, or before 5 a.m.