Reference Source

Federal Hazardous Occupations Orders for Minors (29 CFR Part 570)

Federal child labor law bans workers under 18 from 17 numbered 'Hazardous Occupations Orders' (29 CFR 570.51-570.68) -- driving, roofing, mining, explosives, power-driven meat slicers, forklifts and other high-lift trucks, circular saws and more -- and separately restricts 14- and 15-year-olds to a closed, positively-defined list of permitted work (29 CFR 570.34), everything outside that list being prohibited (29 CFR 570.33). Limited apprentice and student-learner exemptions apply to some of the orders under 29 CFR 570.50. A state law stricter than federal law controls: North Carolina's own labor department bans nine further 'detrimental' occupations -- welding, work with a risk of falling 10 feet or more, electrician's-helper work, confined spaces, respirator use -- that federal law permits at 16. Each record carries the section it comes from and a verbatim quote of the regulation, so a parent or small-business owner asking 'can I let my 16-year-old operate a forklift' can check the answer against the rule itself. DOL's own summary at webapps.dol.gov/elaws lists the 17 orders one line each with none of the substantive detail; the state layer here is North Carolina only so far. North Carolina's Youth Employment Rules page states separately that 'Employment in hazardous or detrimental occupations are not permitted for youths under the age of 18', but the page listing the nine occupations does not repeat the age, so these records do not claim one.

Records67
Sources23
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The data

occupation orderjurisdictionruleregulatory textcfr section
A tanning bed is not a prohibited piece of power-driven equipmentNorth CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on tanning beds and tanning salonsa tanning bed is not a prohibited piece of power-driven equipment for youths under 16 years of age
All baking and cooking activitiesFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageAll baking and cooking activities except that cooking which is permitted by § 570.34(c) .570.33
Any processes where quartz or any other form of silicon dioxide or asbestos silicate is present in powdered formNorth CarolinaDetrimental occupation declared by the North Carolina Department of Labor, in addition to the federal Hazardous Occupations OrdersAny processes where quartz or any other form of silicon dioxide or asbestos silicate is present in powdered form.
Any work as an electrician or electrician’s helperNorth CarolinaDetrimental occupation declared by the North Carolina Department of Labor, in addition to the federal Hazardous Occupations OrdersAny work as an electrician or electrician’s helper.
Any work in confined spacesNorth CarolinaDetrimental occupation declared by the North Carolina Department of Labor, in addition to the federal Hazardous Occupations OrdersAny work in confined spaces.
Any work involving exposure to lead or any of its compounds in any formNorth CarolinaDetrimental occupation declared by the North Carolina Department of Labor, in addition to the federal Hazardous Occupations OrdersAny work involving exposure to lead or any of its compounds in any form.
Any work which involves the risk of falling a distance of 10 feet or more, including ladders and scaffoldsNorth CarolinaDetrimental occupation declared by the North Carolina Department of Labor, in addition to the federal Hazardous Occupations OrdersAny work which involves the risk of falling a distance of 10 feet or more, including ladders and scaffolds.
Apprentice exemptionFederalExemption from some of the Hazardous Occupations OrdersSome sections in this subpart contain an exemption for the employment of apprentices. Such an exemption shall apply only when: (1) The apprentice is employed in a craft recognized as an apprenticeable trade; (2) the work of the apprentice in the occupations declared particularly hazardous is incidental to his training; (3) such work is intermittent and for short periods of time and is under the direct and close supervision of a journeyman as a necessary part of such apprentice training; and (4) the apprentice is registered by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training of the United States Department of Labor as employed in accordance with the standards established by that Bureau, or is registered by a State agency as employed in accordance with the standards of the State apprenticeship agency recognized by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, or is employed under a written apprenticeship agreement and conditions which are found by the Secretary of labor to conform substantially with such Federal or State standards.570.50
At any work involving exposure to benzene or any benzene compound that is volatile or can penetrate the skinNorth CarolinaDetrimental occupation declared by the North Carolina Department of Labor, in addition to the federal Hazardous Occupations OrdersAt any work involving exposure to benzene or any benzene compound that is volatile or can penetrate the skin.
Bagging and carrying out customers' ordersFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageBagging and carrying out customers' orders.570.34
Cashiering, selling, modeling, art work, window trimming and comparative shoppingFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageCashiering, selling, modeling, art work, work in advertising departments, window trimming, and comparative shopping.570.34
Catching and cooping of poultryFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageCatching and cooping of poultry in preparation for transport or for market.570.33
Clean up work and the maintenance of groundsFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageClean up work, including the use of vacuum cleaners and floor waxers, and the maintenance of grounds, but not including the use of power-driven mowers, cutters, trimmers, edgers, or similar equipment.570.34
Cleaning a tanning bed or its workroom while the tanning bed is not in operationNorth CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on tanning beds and tanning salonsall youths 14 to 17 years of age can work in the workroom to clean, including the bed itself, as long as the tanning bed is not in operation
Cleaning vegetables and fruits, and wrapping, sealing, labeling and stockingFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageCleaning vegetables and fruits, and the wrapping, sealing, labeling, weighing, pricing, and stocking of items, including vegetables, fruits, and meats, when performed in areas physically separate from a freezer or meat cooler.570.34
Cooking with electric or gas grillsFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageCooking with electric or gas grills which does not involve cooking over an open flame (Note: This provision does not authorize cooking with equipment such as rotisseries, broilers, pressurized equipment including fryolators, and cooking devices that operate at extremely high temperatures such as “Neico broilers”).570.34
Driving a motor vehicle on private property (16- and 17-year-olds)North CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on driving a motor vehicle as part of employment16 and 17 year old youths are not restricted from driving a motor vehicle on private property as long as the youths do not have to drive motor vehicles on the public roads and highways at all including the crossing of a public road or highway
Driving a motor vehicle on private property (youths under 16)North CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on driving a motor vehicle as part of employmentThe driving of a motor vehicle on private property is prohibited for youths under the age of 16 simply because youths under the age of 16 cannot operate power driven equipment as a part of their employment
Driving a motor vehicle on the public roads and highways (N.C. Wage and Hour Act limited exemption)North CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on driving a motor vehicle as part of employmentlimited exemption for driving a motor vehicle on the public roads and highways for 16- and 17-year old youths as long as the driving is done within a 25 mile radius of the business
Employment of the owner's child at a tanning salon (parental exemption)North CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on tanning beds and tanning salonsthe parental exemption applies to tanning salons so there is no age restriction for the owner
Errand and delivery work by foot, bicycle, and public transportationFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageErrand and delivery work by foot, bicycle, and public transportation.570.34
Hoisting apparatusFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageOccupations that involve operating, tending, setting up, adjusting, cleaning, oiling, or repairing hoisting apparatus.570.33
Kitchen work and preparing and serving food and beveragesFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageKitchen work and other work involved in preparing and serving food and beverages, including operating machines and devices used in performing such work.570.34
LifeguardFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageLifeguard. The employment of 15-year-olds (but not 14-year-olds) to perform permitted lifeguard duties at traditional swimming pools and water amusement parks (including such water park facilities as wave pools, lazy rivers, specialized activity areas that may include water falls and sprinkler areas, and baby pools; but not including the elevated areas of power-driven water slides) when such youth have been trained and certified by the American Red Cross, or a similar certifying organization, in aquatics and water safety.570.34
Loading and unloading goods onto motor vehicles, railroad cars or conveyorsFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageLoading and unloading of goods or property onto or from motor vehicles, railroad cars, or conveyors, except the loading and unloading of personal non-power-driven hand tools, personal protective equipment, and personal items to and from motor vehicles as permitted by § 570.34(k) .570.33
Loading and unloading light hand tools and personal itemsFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageThe loading onto motor vehicles and the unloading from motor vehicles of the light, non-power-driven, hand tools and personal protective equipment that the minor will use as part of his or her employment at the work site; and the loading onto motor vehicles and the unloading from motor vehicles of personal items such as a back pack, a lunch box, or a coat that the minor is permitted to take to the work site.570.34
Manufacturing, mining, or processing occupationsFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageManufacturing, mining, or processing occupations, including occupations requiring the performance of any duties in work rooms or work places where goods are manufactured, mined or otherwise processed, except as permitted in § 570.34 of this subpart .570.33
Occupations declared hazardous by the Secretary of LaborFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageOccupations that the Secretary of Labor may, pursuant to section 3(l) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, find and declare to be hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age or detrimental to their health or well-being.570.33
Occupations in canneries, seafood and poultry processing that involve cutting or slicing machines, or freezing or packaging activitiesNorth CarolinaDetrimental occupation declared by the North Carolina Department of Labor, in addition to the federal Hazardous Occupations OrdersOccupations in canneries, seafood and poultry processing that involve cutting or slicing machines, or freezing or packaging activities.
Occupations requiring the use of respiratorsNorth CarolinaDetrimental occupation declared by the North Carolina Department of Labor, in addition to the federal Hazardous Occupations OrdersOccupations requiring the use of respirators.
Office and clerical workFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageOffice and clerical work, including the operation of office machines.570.34
Operating a tanning unitNorth CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on tanning beds and tanning salonsno one under the age of 18 can operate a tanning unit
Operating or repairing power-driven machineryFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageOccupations that involve operating, tending, setting up, adjusting, cleaning, oiling, or repairing any power-driven machinery, including but not limited to lawn mowers, golf carts, all-terrain vehicles, trimmers, cutters, weed-eaters, edgers, food slicers, food grinders, food choppers, food processors, food cutters, and food mixers.570.33
Operating power-driven equipment including lawn mowers, weedeaters, cars, trucks and golf carts (youths under 16)North CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on driving a motor vehicle as part of employmentThe prohibition of the operation of power driven equipment by youths under the age of 16 includes, but is not limited to, lawn mowers (both push and rider), weedeaters, cars, trucks, and golf carts (both electric and gas powered)
Order 1 - Manufacturing and storing explosivesFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations in or about plants or establishments manufacturing or storing explosives or articles containing explosive components are particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of age or detrimental to their health or well-being:570.51
Order 2 - Driving a motor vehicle and being an outside helperFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageExcept as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the occupations of motor-vehicle driver and outside helper on any public road, highway, in or about any mine (including open pit mine or quarry), place where logging or sawmill operations are in progress, or in any excavation of the type identified in § 570.68(a) are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age.570.52
Order 3 - Coal miningFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageAll occupations in or about any coal mine, except the occupation of slate or other refuse picking at a picking table or picking chute in a tipple or breaker and occupations requiring the performance of duties solely in offices or in repair or maintenance shops located in the surface part of any coal-mining plant, are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age.570.53
Order 4 - Forest fire fighting, timber tract, forestry, logging and sawmill workFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageAll occupations in forest fire fighting and forest fire prevention, in timber tracts, in forestry services, logging, and the operation of any sawmill, lath mill, shingle mill, or cooperage stock mill are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age, except the following when not prohibited by any other section of this subpart:570.54
Order 5 - Power-driven woodworking machinesFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations involved in the operation of power-driven wood-working machines are particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of age:570.55
Order 6 - Exposure to radioactive substancesFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations involving exposure to radioactive substances and to ionizing radiations are particularly hazardous and detrimental to health for minors between 16 and 18 years of age:570.57
Order 7 - Power-driven hoisting apparatusFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations involved in the operation of power-driven hoisting apparatus are particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of age:570.58
Order 8 - Power-driven metal-forming, punching, and shearing machinesFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age:570.59
Order 9 - Mining, other than coal miningFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageAll occupations in connection with mining, other than coal, are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age or detrimental to their health or well-being and employment in such occupations is therefore prohibited under section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, except the following:570.60
Order 10 - Meat and poultry packing or processingFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations in or about slaughtering and meat packing establishments, rendering plants, or wholesale, retail or service establishments are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age or detrimental to their health or well-being:570.61
Order 11 - Power-driven bakery machinesFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations involved in the operation of power-driven bakery machines are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age:570.62
Order 12 - Balers, compactors, and paper-products machinesFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age:570.63
Order 13 - Manufacturing brick, tile, and related productsFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations involved in the manufacture of clay construction products and of silica refractory products are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age, and detrimental to their health and well-being.570.64
Order 14 - Power-driven circular saws, band saws, chain saws and other sawsFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age:570.65
Order 15 - Wrecking, demolition, and shipbreaking operationsFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageAll occupations in wrecking, demolition, and shipbreaking operations are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age and detrimental to their health and well-being.570.66
Order 16 - Roofing operations and all work on or about a roofFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageAll occupations in roofing operations and all occupations on or about a roof are particularly hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age or detrimental to their health.570.67
Order 17 - Excavation operationsFederalProhibited under 18 - declared particularly hazardous for minors between 16 and 18 years of ageThe following occupations in excavation operations are particularly hazardous for the employment of persons between 16 and 18 years of age:570.68
Outside window washing, ladders and scaffoldsFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageOutside window washing that involves working from window sills, and all work requiring the use of ladders, scaffolds, or their substitutes.570.33
Places of business where machinery is used to process wood productsFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageEmployment inside and outside of places of business where machinery is used to process wood products.570.34
Price marking and tagging, assembling orders, packing, and shelvingFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of agePrice marking and tagging by hand or machine, assembling orders, packing, and shelving.570.34
Public messenger serviceFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of agePublic messenger service.570.33
Riding inside passenger compartments of motor vehiclesFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageWork in connection with riding inside passenger compartments of motor vehicles except as prohibited by § 570.33(f) or § 570.33(j) , or when a significant reason for the minor being a passenger in the vehicle is for the purpose of performing work in connection with the transporting—or assisting in the transporting of—other persons or property.570.34
Student-learner exemptionFederalExemption from some of the Hazardous Occupations OrdersSome sections in this subpart contain an exemption for the employment of student-learners. Such an exemption shall apply when: (1) The student-learner is enrolled in a course of study and training in a cooperative vocational training program under a recognized State or local educational authority or in a course of study in a substantially similar program conducted by a private school and; (2) Such student-learner is employed under a written agreement which provides: (i) That the work of the student-learner in the occupations declared particularly hazardous shall be incidental to his training; (ii) That such work shall be intermittent and for short periods of time, and under the direct and close supervision of a qualified and experienced person; (iii) That safety instructions shall be given by the school and correlated by the employer with on-the-job training; and (iv) That a schedule of organized and progressive work processes to be performed on the job shall have been prepared.570.50
Tanning beds do not fall under Hazardous Order No. 6North CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on tanning beds and tanning salonstanning beds do not fall under Hazardous Order No. 6 as long as the rays from tanning beds are non-ionizing radiation
The operation of motor vehiclesFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageThe operation of motor vehicles; the service as helpers on such vehicles except those tasks permitted by § 570.34(k) ; and the riding on a motor vehicle, inside or outside of an enclosed passenger compartment, except as permitted by § 570.34(o) .570.33
Transportation, warehousing, communications, utilities and constructionFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageOccupations in connection with: (1) Transportation of persons or property by rail, highway, air, water, pipeline, or other means; (2) Warehousing and storage; (3) Communications and public utilities; (4) Construction (including demolition and repair); except such office work (including ticket office) or sales work in connection with paragraphs (n)(1) , (2) , (3) , and (4) of this section, as does not involve the performance of any duties on trains, motor vehicles, aircraft, vessels, or other media of transportation or at the actual site of construction operations.570.33
Welding, brazing, or torch cuttingNorth CarolinaDetrimental occupation declared by the North Carolina Department of Labor, in addition to the federal Hazardous Occupations OrdersWelding, brazing, or torch cutting.
Work in connection with cars and trucksFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageWork in connection with cars and trucks if confined to the following: dispensing gasoline and oil; courtesy service; car cleaning, washing and polishing by hand; and other occupations permitted by this section, but not including work involving the use of pits, racks, or lifting apparatus, or involving the inflation of any tire mounted on a rim equipped with a removable retaining ring.570.34
Work in freezers and meat coolersFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageWork in freezers and meat coolers and all work in the preparation of meats for sale except as permitted by § 570.34(j) . This section, however, does not prohibit the employment of 14- and 15-year-olds whose duties require them to occasionally enter freezers only momentarily to retrieve items as permitted by § 570.34(i) .570.33
Work in or about boiler or engine rooms, and maintenance of the establishmentFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageWork performed in or about boiler or engine rooms or in connection with the maintenance or repair of the establishment, machines, or equipment.570.33
Work of an intellectual or artistically creative natureFederalPermitted for minors 14 and 15 years of ageWork of an intellectual or artistically creative nature such as, but not limited to, computer programming, the writing of software, teaching or performing as a tutor, serving as a peer counselor or teacher's assistant, singing, the playing of a musical instrument, and drawing, as long as such employment complies with all the other provisions contained in §§ 570.33 , 570.34 , and 570.35 . Artistically creative work is limited to work in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor.570.34
Working in a workroom where a tanning bed is in operationNorth CarolinaEnforcement position of the North Carolina Department of Labor Wage and Hour Bureau on tanning beds and tanning salonsno youth under 18 years of age be allowed to work in a workroom where a tanning bed is in operation
Youth peddlingFederalProhibited for minors 14 and 15 years of ageYouth peddling, which entails the selling of goods or services to customers at locations other than the youth-employer's establishment, such as the customers' residences or places of business, or public places such as street corners and public transportation stations.570.33

Where this came from

Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 23 sources this dataset was assembled from.

Machine-readable

From your own code

Same records, same quotes, without scraping the page: refsource is on PyPI and npm. Each value comes back carrying the URL it was read from and the sentence on that page that states it — .source and .quote sit on the value itself rather than in a side channel, so the checking step is available instead of skipped.

pip install refsource
refsource lookup federal-child-labor-hazardous-occupations jurisdiction="North Carolina"

npx -y refsource lookup federal-child-labor-hazardous-occupations jurisdiction="North Carolina"

Set your AI assistant up to use this

Two files and no account. Put this in .mcp.json at the root of your project — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and Codex all read that file — and your assistant can look this dataset up instead of recalling it. The server is remote, keyless and read-only.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "referencesource": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://referencesource.org/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Add to Cursor · or, on the command line: claude mcp add --transport http referencesource https://referencesource.org/mcp --scope project

Then one line in the project's CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, so the assistant knows when to reach for it:

When a question needs "Federal Hazardous Occupations Orders for Minors (29 CFR Part 570)", call the referencesource MCP server at https://referencesource.org/mcp (tool `search_records`, dataset_slug `federal-child-labor-hazardous-occupations`) instead of answering from memory — every record it returns carries its source URL and a verbatim quote from that page.

What each tool does, and the servers built over single registers: Connect your AI assistant.

67 records. last verified against source . due for re-check by .

Licence. unknown