“could have happened to anyone”

Uh, sure, maybe anyone who wasn’t 16 years old. I completely blame the company for allowing a 16 year old to operate dangerous equipment, let alone without direct supervision.

If his two coworkers were only alerted to his injury after the kid phoned his boss, got disconnected, texted him a picture, then the boss phones the coworkers, they were absolutely not close enough to be supervising that kid even with “hearing protection”. That would be like 2-3 minutes at least for that process but likely took longer.

You’re telling me there were no better jobs the kid could have been doing while the coworkers operated the mulching machine?

The article title focuses on the school-based work program, but that was just giving him credit for the job he already had.

Derrik had worked at Rotschy, a large construction company in southwestern Washington, for about nine months prior to his injury, and had recently joined a school program that allowed him to earn class credit for hours on the job.

The real problem was the company ignoring safety regulation.

Rotschy, which routinely hired teenage workers amid recent labor shortages, violated the law when supervisors assigned tasks known to be dangerous and prohibited for minors to perform. The Battle Ground School District, where Derrik attended, did not conduct an initial site inspection as required by the program. The state Department of Labor & Industries and school district officials disagree on who bears responsibility for ongoing safety monitoring.

The school was also wrong to not conduct an initial site inspection, although my guess is that the company wouldn’t have the kids doing the illegal stuff during the inspection. So the school was also wrong, but not nearly at the same level as the company.

Nevermind, everyone totally fucked up.

The state Department of Labor & Industries and school district officials disagree on who bears responsibility for ongoing safety monitoring.

L&I later issued significant fines against Rotschy for the incident, but has for years approved special “variances” for the company to hire minors despite its history of serious safety violations. And local school officials continued to promote the company’s work program — including after Derrik’s injury.

The headline should be ‘WA teen loses legs because a company, the school, and the Department of Labor and Industry all fucked up and continue to do so.’

For their part, Derrik and his parents say they do not hold Rotschy responsible. It was a fluke, an unlucky break — not the company being neglectful, they said. They hope officials can learn lessons from what happened, but that the school program does not end.

“I don’t think Rotschy failed my son in any way,” Derrik’s dad said. “All these events culminated into this accident.”

wow. impressive that they’re both bootlicking and guzzling koolaid simultaneously. at first i hoped that the company paid them off to say that shit, but it’s a for-profit company. and they’re the sort of parents who would let their teenage son go to work around human-shredding heavy machinery, so, doubt

Every safety rule is written in blood. A 16-year-old is not old enough to evaluate whether a prospective employer truly understands that concept, and accept the risks if not.