What Are the Health and Safety Rules for Young Workers?

What are the health and safety rules for young workers? Employers have the same duties to workers under 18 as to everyone else, plus a few specific ones: before employing a young person they must make or review a risk assessment that takes particular account of inexperience, lack of awareness of risks and immaturity; they must not give young people certain high-risk work unless it is necessary for training, supervised and controlled; and 16 and 17-year-olds are limited to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, with longer rest breaks and restrictions on night work. What surprises many employers is what the law does not require: HSE says you do not need a separate risk assessment for a work experience student if your existing one already considers young people, and parents, schools and colleges have no health and safety responsibility for the placement — the employer does.

At a glance: Nexis CPD’s £9 Health and Safety for Young Workers course covers who counts as a young worker and who counts as a child, why young workers are more at risk, the specific risk assessment duty, informing parents of children, prohibited and high-risk work, the training-only exception with supervision, induction, training and supervision. It is CPD accredited and 100% online with a verifiable e-certificate, and any three courses cost £18. It is awareness training for employers, managers and supervisors; it is not a regulated qualification.

Who counts as a young worker or a child in UK law?

Different laws use slightly different terms, and mixing them up is a common source of confusion.

• Young person — under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, “any person who has not attained the age of eighteen”. This is the definition that triggers the extra health and safety duties.
• Child — under the same regulations, a person who is “not over compulsory school age”. HSE explains that a child is anyone who has not yet reached the official minimum school leaving age (MSLA), and that pupils reach the MSLA during the school year in which they turn 16.
• Young worker — under the Working Time Regulations 1998, a worker aged at least 15 but under 18 who is over compulsory school age. This is the group covered by the special working-hours rules.

In practice, then, there are two groups: children of school age, whose employment is tightly restricted, and young people aged from school leaving age up to 18, who can work full-time but with extra protections.

The exact school leaving date varies across the UK. GOV.UK says that in England a young person can leave school on the last Friday in June if they will be 16 by the end of the summer holidays, but must then, until 18, stay in full-time education, start an apprenticeship, or spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering while in part-time education or training. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules on school leaving age.

What does the law require employers to do for young workers?

HSE’s guidance on young people at work starts with the most important point: when you employ young people under 18, “you have the same responsibilities for their health, safety and welfare as you do for other workers”, whether they are a worker, on work experience or an apprentice. The general duties of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and all the specific regulations apply in the usual way.

On top of that, the Management Regulations add three specific duties for young people:

1. A risk assessment that considers young people — regulation 3(4) says an employer “shall not employ a young person unless he has, in relation to risks to the health and safety of young persons, made or reviewed an assessment”.
2. Protection from risks linked to youth — regulation 19(1) requires employers to ensure young persons are protected from risks that are “a consequence of their lack of experience, or absence of awareness of existing or potential risks or the fact that young persons have not yet fully matured”.
3. Information for parents of children — regulation 10(2) requires an employer, before employing a child, to give a parent comprehensible and relevant information on the risks identified, the preventive and protective measures, and any risks notified by other employers sharing the workplace.

HSE explains why the extra care matters: young people “are likely to be new to the workplace and so are at more risk of injury in the first six months of a job”. They may lack experience or maturity, may not have reached physical maturity and full strength, may be “eager to impress or please people they work with”, and may not know how to raise concerns.

Do you need a separate risk assessment for young workers?

Usually not — and this is the point most often overcomplicated. Regulation 3(5) lists what the assessment must take particular account of when young people are employed:

• the inexperience, lack of awareness of risks and immaturity of young persons;
• the fitting-out and layout of the workplace and the workstation;
• the nature, degree and duration of exposure to physical, biological and chemical agents;
• the form, range and use of work equipment and the way it is handled;
• the organisation of processes and activities;
• the extent of the health and safety training provided or to be provided; and
• risks from agents, processes and work listed in the Annex to the EU Young Workers Directive (94/33/EC, as amended).

But HSE’s guidance on risks to young people makes clear this is a review of your existing assessment, not a new document for each person:

• If you are employing a young person for the first time, or one with particular needs, “you should review your risk assessment before they start”.
• If you already employ young people, or have done recently, your existing arrangements “should be enough”, provided the new starter is of a similar level of maturity and understanding and has no particular needs, such as a disability.
• “You do not need to do a separate risk assessment for work experience students, as long as your existing assessment already considers the specific factors for young people.”

On paperwork, the normal rule applies: under regulation 3(6), employers with five or more employees must record the significant findings. HSE adds that if you have fewer than five employees you do not need a written risk assessment, and “if a work experience student increases your staff to 5 you do not need to do a written risk assessment for this temporary period”. Our guide to risk assessment covers the general process.

HSE also scales the effort to the environment. For low-risk settings such as offices or shops, existing arrangements for other workers should be enough. For less familiar risks, such as light assembly or packing, you need induction, supervision, site familiarisation and any protective equipment. For higher-risk work such as construction, agriculture and manufacturing, you should think carefully about what the young person will do or observe and satisfy yourself that instruction, training and supervision “have been properly thought through and work in practice”.

What work are young people not allowed to do?

Regulation 19(2) says that, subject to one exception, no employer shall employ a young person for work:

• which is beyond their physical or psychological capacity;
• involving harmful exposure to agents which are toxic or carcinogenic, cause heritable genetic damage or harm to the unborn child, or which in any other way chronically affect human health;
• involving harmful exposure to radiation;
• involving the risk of accidents which it may reasonably be assumed cannot be recognised or avoided by young persons owing to their insufficient attention to safety or lack of experience or training; or
• in which there is a risk to health from extreme cold or heat, noise, or vibration.

Whether work falls into these categories is decided by reference to the risk assessment. And the exception is significant: under regulation 19(3), these restrictions do not prevent a young person who is no longer a child from doing the work where it is necessary for their training, they are supervised by a competent person, and any risk is reduced to the lowest level that is reasonably practicable. That is how apprentices in construction, engineering or agriculture can learn their trade.

The exception does not apply to children. HSE says children below the MSLA “must not be employed in industrial workplaces such as factories, construction sites, except on work experience”, and local authority bylaws can list other jobs children cannot do.

Specific equipment can carry age limits too. HSE says employers should consider “legally required age limits on the use of some equipment and machinery (for example forklift trucks and some woodworking machinery)”. Check the rules for the particular equipment rather than assuming. Physical capacity also matters for everyday tasks such as lifting: HSE suggests simply asking yourself “if a still developing young person could lift the weights older, more experienced workers can”. Our guide to manual handling weight limits explains why there are no fixed legal maximums for anyone.

For context, HSE also tells parents that “there are very few work activities that a student cannot do because of health and safety law”. The law restricts how young people do risky work far more often than it bans the work outright.

How many hours can a 16 or 17-year-old work?

Under regulation 5A of the Working Time Regulations 1998, a young worker’s working time must not exceed eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. Two details catch employers out:

• Hours are added together across jobs. If a young worker works for more than one employer on the same day or in the same week, the hours for each employer are aggregated. It is worth asking young starters whether they have another job.
• The limits are firm. Regulation 27A allows the 8-hour and 40-hour limits to be exceeded only where the work is necessary to maintain continuity of service or production or to respond to a surge in demand, no adult worker is available, and the work would not adversely affect the young worker’s education or training.

GOV.UK’s child employment guidance says the same: once someone has reached the minimum school leaving age they can work full-time, up to a maximum of 40 hours a week, and adult employment rights and rules apply from 18.

What rest breaks and night work rules apply to young workers?

Young workers get more rest than adults:

• Rest break: where daily working time is more than four and a half hours, a rest break of at least 30 minutes, consecutive if possible, away from the workstation (regulation 12(4)). Adults get 20 minutes after six hours.
• Daily rest: at least 12 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period (regulation 10(2)), compared with 11 for adults.
• Weekly rest: at least 48 hours in each seven-day period (regulation 11(3)). This can be interrupted for split or short work, and reduced for technical or organisational reasons, but not to less than 36 consecutive hours.

Night work. Regulation 6A says no young worker may work during “the restricted period” — 10pm to 6am, or 11pm to 7am if their contract provides for work after 10pm. The same surge-in-demand exceptions in regulation 27A allow some night work in hospitals and similar establishments, and in cultural, artistic, sporting or advertising activities. In agriculture, retail, postal or newspaper deliveries, catering, hotels, pubs, restaurants, bars and bakeries, work in the restricted period is allowed in those circumstances except between midnight and 4am. Where these exceptions are used, the young worker must be supervised by an adult where necessary for their protection and given equivalent compensatory rest.

Before assigning a young worker to work in the restricted period, the employer must also offer a free assessment of their “health and capacities”, repeated at appropriate intervals (regulation 7(2)), unless the work is of an exceptional nature.

What are the rules for employing children under school leaving age?

Children of school age can do some part-time work, but the rules are tighter and partly set locally. GOV.UK’s guidance on restrictions on child employment says children can work part-time from 14 (from 13 in some council areas), and are not allowed to work:

• without a council employment permit, if local bylaws require one;
• in places like a factory or industrial site (unless as part of work experience);
• during school hours, or before 7am or after 7pm;
• for more than one hour before school (unless local bylaws allow it);
• for more than four hours without a break of at least one hour;
• in any work that may be harmful to their health, well-being or education; or
• without a two-week break from any work during the school holidays in each calendar year.

In term time, children can work a maximum of 12 hours a week, including a maximum of two hours on school days and Sundays, and five hours on Saturdays for 14-year-olds or eight hours for 15 to 16-year-olds. In school holidays, 14-year-olds can work up to 25 hours a week and 15 to 16-year-olds up to 35 hours, with limits per day.

GOV.UK notes that most councils require a child employment permit, and warns that if a child works without one, “there’s a risk that the employer will not be insured against accidents involving the child”. Children do not need a permit for work experience arranged by their school. And remember regulation 10(2): before employing a child, you must give a parent information about the risks and the control measures.

Who is responsible for work experience students?

The employer. HSE is unusually blunt on this point, because over-cautious paperwork has put employers off offering placements:

• “Parents and carers have no responsibilities under health and safety law. The employer is responsible for workplace health and safety.” (HSE advice for parents and carers)
• “Schools and colleges have no responsibility under health and safety law for work experience students.” They should check the employer has risk management arrangements, but “you do not need additional paperwork for assurance purposes or to second guess the employer’s risk assessment”. (HSE advice for schools and colleges)
• Work experience organisers should “not introduce unnecessary additional paperwork that could lead to employers being discouraged from offering placements”, and should instead talk to the employer about the work, the precautions and the induction, training and supervision planned. (HSE advice for organisers)

Two practical points for employers. First, HSE says organisers should ask whether you have employers’ liability insurance that covers work experience students as employees, and ask for a copy of the certificate — so check your policy before the placement starts. Second, you should tell parents about any significant risks and how you control them; HSE says this can be done “in whatever way is easiest, including a quick chat”.

What training and supervision do young workers need?

HSE says young people need “clear and sufficient instruction, training and supervision” so they can work without putting themselves or others at risk, and that “they may need more supervision than adults”. Its guidance on training and supervision adds:

• Training should be proportionate to the risk. For a short work experience placement, tailor the induction to the tasks the student will actually do.
• Check understanding. Confirm they have understood the hazards and risks and the precautions in place — do not assume that because something was said, it was understood.
• Teach them how to raise concerns. Young people may be unaware of how to speak up, so make it part of their training.
• Supervise closely and review progress. Good supervision shows you their capabilities and whether the training has worked, and regular checks help identify adjustments.

A good induction covers who their supervisor is, the hazards of their tasks, what they must never do, emergency procedures, and how to report injuries, near misses and worries. Our guide to health and safety training requirements explains the general legal duties to train, which apply equally to young workers.

Are apprentices treated differently?

Not for health and safety. HSE’s guidance on apprentices says that in most cases employers have the same responsibilities for apprentices of all ages, and for apprentices under 18 “the same responsibilities as for other young workers”. Where an apprenticeship training agency (ATA) is used in England and Wales, the agency is the apprentice’s employer, and the ATA and host organisation should work together to control risks. Training providers should take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that the employer is managing risks, but are not required to carry out their own workplace assessment.

What is the minimum wage for young workers?

Pay is not a health and safety rule, but it is one of the most-asked questions about employing young people. GOV.UK’s National Minimum Wage rates from April 2026 are £8 an hour for under-18s, £8 for apprentices, £10.85 for 18 to 20-year-olds, and £12.71 (the National Living Wage) for those aged 21 and over. A worker must be at least school leaving age to be entitled to the National Minimum Wage. Apprentices are entitled to the apprentice rate if they are under 19, or 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship. Rates change every April.

Which courses help employers keep young workers safe?

These £9 courses suit employers, supervisors and mentors of young people, each with a verifiable certificate:

• Health and Safety for Young Workers — who counts as a young worker or child, the risk assessment duty, prohibited and high-risk work, the training exception with supervision, induction and supervision.
• Introduction to Health and Safety — a first course for young starters themselves, covering the basics of health and safety at work.
• Risk Assessment Awareness — for supervisors reviewing a risk assessment before a young person starts.

For practical roles, Manual Handling Awareness is a useful alternative. Any three courses cost £18 with the pay-for-2-get-3 offer — add them to the cart and the discount applies automatically. These are awareness courses: they are not regulated qualifications, and they do not replace job-specific training, supervision or any equipment-specific training your risk assessment requires.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a separate risk assessment for a young worker?

Usually not. You must make or review your risk assessment to take account of young people before employing one. HSE says you do not need a separate assessment for work experience students if your existing assessment already considers the specific factors for young people.

How many hours can a 16-year-old work in the UK?

Once over compulsory school age, a young worker aged under 18 can work up to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week under the Working Time Regulations 1998, with hours for different employers added together. They are entitled to a 30-minute break after more than four and a half hours.

Can a 16 or 17-year-old work nights?

Generally not between 10pm and 6am, or 11pm and 7am if their contract provides for work after 10pm. Limited exceptions apply when work is needed for continuity or a surge in demand and no adult is available. In hospitals and in cultural, artistic, sporting or advertising work the night restriction can be lifted; in agriculture, retail, deliveries, catering, hospitality and bakeries, work between midnight and 4am is still not allowed.

Who is responsible for a work experience student’s safety?

The employer. HSE says parents, schools, colleges and work experience organisers have no responsibility under health and safety law for work experience students, although organisers should take reasonable steps to check the employer manages the risks.

Can young workers use dangerous machinery?

Sometimes. Regulation 19 prohibits certain high-risk work for under-18s, but a young person who is no longer a child can do it where it is necessary for their training, they are supervised by a competent person, and risks are reduced as low as reasonably practicable. Some equipment, such as forklift trucks and some woodworking machinery, has separate legal age limits.

What is the minimum wage for under-18s?

From April 2026, the National Minimum Wage for workers under 18 is £8 an hour, and the apprentice rate is also £8, according to GOV.UK. Rates change every April.

Give young workers a safe start

£9 per course. CPD accredited, 100% online, verifiable e-certificate. Pay for 2, get 3 — any 3 courses for £18.

This article is general information, not legal advice. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Working Time Regulations 1998 described here apply in England, Wales and Scotland; Northern Ireland has separate legislation, and school leaving age and child employment bylaws vary across the UK and between councils. Minimum wage rates are those published on GOV.UK for April 2026. A Nexis CPD awareness course is CPD accredited but is not a regulated qualification. References are drawn from legislation.gov.uk, HSE and GOV.UK at the time of writing.