• SpeedLimit55@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    You are supposed to be 18 or older to work in meat processing. I saw an article that said false info may have been provided for that kid who came from a staffing agency (which may or may not be true). I don’t have an issue with a 16 year old working at a landfill or logging company. Both are probably good paying summer jobs and possibly where they would have ended up working after high school.

    I do have a problem with unsafe working conditions, improper training, loose regulations, and lack of accountability. When money becomes more important than people bad things tend to happen to workers regardless of age.

    • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Logging is actually a very unsafe and dangerous activity. Logging actually has a pretty high injury and fatality rate.

      Landfills probably less so, but they really don’t have very many jobs. You’ve got a couple of guys who maybe work the weigh stations doing paperwork, and then a few heavy equipment operators.

      Really any job that includes operating heavy machinery with the potential to kill people really shouldn’t be done by 16-year-olds.

      • ConfirmingMoose@reddthat.com
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        1 year ago

        I lived in an area that had a huge logging industry that eventually became one dude, one machine, and truck that comes and hauls them off to the port. But I was there just after the full mechanization and automation of the industry. So the old timers were still around.

        And a lot of those dudes were named things like “three fingered Jack” and “one armed Rick” and “Lefty” … all from industrial logging accidents for a village of like 500 people.

      • Jack@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        operating heavy machinery with the potential to kill people really shouldn’t be done by 16-year-olds.

        14 year olds can get drivers licenses in South Dakota (source, which of course requires either scripting to view the text or opening the page source).

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Holy shit… my daughter is 13 and I wouldn’t want her behind a steering wheel. Not at her maturity level. But then I also think the drinking age should be 16 and the driving age 18 because a lot of young people get in car crashes due to not understanding what alcohol does to them.

        • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          I could too as a farm boy in oregon back in the 90s.

          Its a far cry from operating a log truck or servicing sawmill machinery. Which requires years of experience.

    • DrPop@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      I kinda agree with your last statement. Maybe add that certain jobs must not be performed by minors. Jayxson shouldn’t be anywhere near dangerous machinery and Abbreeyeghl can’t be near the incinerator.

      I’m making fun of the parents btw and not the kids.