WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department should improve enforcement of child labor laws in jobs such as construction and manufacturing where injury rates are high, a congressional audit says.

While the agency spends much of its time overseeing grocery stores and retailers to ensure that working teenagers and children are safe, it doesn't pay enough attention to children working the higher-risk jobs, the General Accounting Office, auditing agency of Congress, said in a report Monday.

An estimated 3.7 million children ages 15 to 17 worked in the United States in 2001 -- a number that has remained steady since 1992, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Most of these workers are in retail and service jobs such as waiting tables. But about 6 percent of the teens worked for construction firms and in factories, and 4 percent held agricultural jobs.

Although few children work in manufacturing, construction and in farm production, the fatality and injury rate is higher in those jobs than others, said the GAO.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 613 children died of work-related injuries from 1992 to 2000, with 41 percent of them in agricultural jobs, 14 percent in construction, and 6 percent in manufacturing.

The Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, which enforces child labor laws, said so few children work in those high-risk industries, it would be a waste of money to spend more to monitor those jobs.

"Our investigators are sure if they go into a mall, they're going to find teenagers working," said Tammy McCutchen, administrator for the division.

But if investigators visit a construction firm, they probably won't find a child there, she said.

The department focuses on preventing accidents in those industries through education, she said.

Despite the agency's argument, the General Accounting Office recommended labor officials set goals to reduce fatality and injury statistics.

"While we understand the importance of reviewing the number of children who work in each industry and the numbers of children injured or killed, we believe that injury and fatality rates are important indicators that (the Wage and Hour Division) should use in allocating its resources," the report said.

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On the Net

General Accounting Office: http://www.gao.gov

Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/