Summertime is when many teenagers and university students are trying to make some extra cash and it’s also when the Workers Compensation Board of Nova Scotia responds to an increase in reports of injured young employees.

WCBNS is reporting injuries commonly occur early in a person’s career, when their in their teens and early 20s. The board responded to 651 injuries affecting young people in the workplace in Nova Scotia in 2011.

“That’s far too often,” Steve MacDonald, director of communication, told News 95.7. “That’s why we’re working together, with lots of other people, to change the culture and to keep these people safe at work.”

He says statistically, most injuries come in the retail sector and the most common injuries happen to fingers and hands.

“It’s not necessary that the industry itself is any more dangerous,” said MacDonald. “It’s just that so many young people tend to work in that industry. That’s why we work with those large employers, face-to-face, in terms of making sure that they have the proper processes and training in place.”

There was a reported 142 young employees injured in the retail industry last year.

WCBNS is reminding workers they have the right to refuse to do work they feel is unsafe, and the board is encouraging young workers to ask questions about their work environment and to ask for training if you don’t know how to do something.