KATHMANDU, April 27: Assistant Director General and ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Tomoko Nishimoto says ILO marks the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (SafeDay) and the World Day against Child Labour (WDACL) together this year to improve safety and health of young workers in a bid to end all forms of child labour by 2025.
Aimed at achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 8.8 of safe and secure working environments for all workers by2030, ILO said that achieving these goals requires a concerted and integrated approach to eliminating child labor and promoting a culture of prevention on occupational safety health (OSH).
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“The 541 million young workers (15-24 years old) – which includes 37 million children in hazardous child labor – account for more than 15 per cent of the world’s labor force and suffer up to a 40 percent higher rate of non-fatal occupation injuries than adult workers older than 25,” said Tomoko Nishimoto, Assistant Director General and ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
Meanwhile, ILO pinpointed physical and psychological stage of development, lack of experiences and lack of training, limited awareness of work-related hazards, poor working conditions and lack of bargaining power as major factors that lead children to OSH risks.
The 2018 SafeDay campaign also highlights the critical importance of addressing these challenges and improving safety and health for young workers.
