Child labour: just an international issue?

• Author: McKay-Panos, Linda
• Position: Human Rights Law

July 6, 2005--"A 15-year old male, employed as a casual helper, and a co-worker were installing metal siding onto a wooden structure while standing on an elevated work platform. The wooden structure collapsed due to strong wind gusts and crushed one of the two workers. The other worker received minor injuries."

July 14, 2005--"A 14-year old male, employed as a seasonal yard worker, was working in the sandblasting shop and was instructed to wear a sandblasting hood that was supplied with breathing air from the shop compressor. The worker was sandblasting the underside of a truck box that had been stood on end and remained unsupported. The worker's manager discovered the worker pinned beneath the truck box with the air supply hose disconnected. The worker died in hospital ..."

These incidents are taken directly from Alberta's Human Resources and Employment Workplace Incident Fatalities--2005 report (see www3.gov.ab.ca/hre/whs/ fatalities/pdf/wpfatal_2005.pdf). In fact, from 2000 to 2004, there were 12 workers aged 15 to 19 killed on the job in Alberta (Alberta Human Resources, Employment Lost Time Claims 2000-2004). The Alberta government also notes that compared to older workers, young workers (age 15 to 24) are more likely to be injured. This is because they lack experience and skills to operate equipment, such as tractors on farms, and this can be fatal (Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program, Media Bite: Childhood Farm Injuries in Canada: Ages 10-14, January 2004, http://meds.queensu. cal~emresrch/caisp/mb3child4.html). A 2005 survey of students in grades 7 to 12 in British Columbia found that one-fifth of the students reported injuring themselves on the job (J. Irwin, S. McBride, and T. Strubin, Child and Youth Employment Standards: The Experience of Young Workers Under British Columbia's New Policy Regime, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2005 [BC Study]).

Many people have expressed deep concern about child labour conditions around the world, especially in developing countries. Indeed, there is reason for concern. According to the United Nations (2002), 246 million children around the world are working--mostly to support their poor families. In addition, 73 million of the working children are under 10 years old. The jobs these children perform include domestic work outside of their homes, factory work and mining, and unfortunately, children are taken into the slave trade. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of...