I work in a dangerous industry

There was an incident 2 days ago at a heavy industry business a few doors from my place of work.
A 16 year old male was using an overhead crane and unfortunately he was standing directly below the suspended load.
Something gave way and the load fell on him. He died of a crush injury.
I use overhead cranes moving loads up to 10 tons. At any moment there could be equipment failure.
With this in mind, we never stand under a suspended load.
A 16 year old does not understand what can go wrong and it was up to his fellow workers to look out for him.
A tragedy that should never have happened.

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DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

One of the reasons we here in the USA don't allow minors at such jobs.

Actually the insurance would be prohibitive, on top of the laws.

Company's don't even want to hire older people because of the cost of insurance. Yet add a minor, that doesn't know the first thing about safety, the insurance would skyrocket. Even if the law allowed it.

Gusman · 61-69, M

@DeWayfarer My company will not hire anyone under 18.
The work is dangerous and younger people do not really understand the risks.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Gusman I hope he had some kind of life insurance. We did through our job.

Gusman · 61-69, M

@DeWayfarer I am sure he would not have had personal insurance. Do young people even think about that?
He most likely will be covered by the workplace.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Gusman the jobs here have basic insurance covered by the companies. It varies by state laws how much. You can always contribute more then the basic insurance whatever they do cover.