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  Philippines: National Country Report
   
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1995 Survey on Children 5 - 17 Years Old (SCL), Manila, Philippines 
THE WORKING FILIPINO CHILDREN

Working Conditions and Working Environment

Table of Contents



Supervision at Work 

Supervision at Work

About 2.3 million or 83 percent of the total child workers were supervised by an adult in their work. Of these, 71 percent were supervised by their parent or guardian, 85 percent among children in age group 5 - 9, 80 percent among children 10 - 14 and 60 percent among those 15 - 17 years. Other than their parent or guardian, child workers were also supervised in their work by other person (19.5%) or an elder brother/sister (4.6%).

Those who were supervised by other persons were usually those in age group 15 - 17 years. In all regions, working children were mostly supervised by parents or guardians.



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Number of Supervised Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Person Who Supervised Them at Work and Age Group: July 1995 
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Chart Number of Supervised Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Person Who Supervised Them at Work by Sex: July 1995 
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Table Percent of Supervised Working Children by Person Who Supervised and Region: July 1995
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Risks and Dangers at Work

Of the total children 5 to 17 years old, 629 thousand (17.6%) considered some aspects of their job risky or dangerous, 22 percent among boys and 10 percent among girls. In particular, 179 thousand child workers reported fear of contacting disease or getting sick (28.4%), while 92 thousand (14.6%) and 87 thousand (13.9%) were in danger of physical mutilation and vehicular accident, respectively.

For majority of both boys and girls, their work put them at risk of getting diseases. Similarly, in whatever age group, children reported at risk of getting diseases as the most common danger at work.

Children in the transport industry were the most at risk to vehicular accident while children in farming were the most at risk of getting diseases.

More among child workers in rural (17.8%) than urban area (17.1%) considered their work risky or dangerous. Rural child workers were more prone to contacting disease or getting sick (31.5%) while urban child workers were in danger of vehicular accident (27.5%).


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Number of Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Work Risky/ Dangerous and Those Who Don’t: July 1995 
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Number of Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Some Aspects of Their Job Risky or Dangerous by Kind Danger and Age Group: July 1995 
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Some Aspects of Their Job Risky or Dangerous by Kind of Risk/Danger and Sex: July 1995 
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Some Aspects of Their Job Risky or Dangerous by Kind of Risk/Danger, Urban-Rural: July 1995 
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Table Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Considered Work Risky or Dangerous by Kind of Danger and Occupation: July 1995
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Machine or Equipment Used

Some 200 thousand (5.6%) child workers had operated a machine or equipment in their work. Majority of these children had used machines other than power press (not hydraulic), milling machines, circular saw and plate printing. Only 4 percent used power press other than hydraulic press. More boys (82.2%) than girls (17.8%) had used this equipment. The same was true in all regions. In some regions only boys used these equipment.

The above findings apply to all age groups.

 

Machine or Equipment Used


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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Whether or Not They Had Operated a Machine or Equipment: July 1995 
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Machine or Equipment Used and Sex: July 1995 
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Machine or Equipment Used and Age Group: July 1995 
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Safety Gadgets

Safety Gadgets

About one out of five child workers used safety gadgets in their work (22.1%). Safety gadgets often used were safety helmet or hair caps (35.9%), protective clothing (24.3%) and/or gloves (15.2%).

Children in age group 5 - 9 years mostly used safety helmets or hair caps and/or protective clothing. These children were mostly engaged in agriculture.

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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old by Whether or not They had Used Safety Gadgets in Their Work: July 1995 
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Those in age groups 10 - 14 and 15 - 17 years used wider range of safet gadgets such as safety helmets, protective clothing, safety shoes, gloves, face shields, overall/apron, goggles/spectacles, respirator and life vest.

Most commonly used safety gadgets are: safety helmet, hair caps, gloves by those engaged in agriculture; goggles, spectacles by those in fishing and regulators by those in mining.

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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Had Used Safety Gadgets in Their Work by Gadgets Used and Sex: July 1995 
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Had Used Safety Gadgets in Their Work by Gadgets Used and Age Group: July 1995 
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Table Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Had Used Safety Gadgets in Their Work by Gadgets Used and Industry: July 1995
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Hazards at Work

Chemical

Hazards at Work - Chemical

Twenty-five percent of the working children were exposed to chemical hazards at work. Exposure to dust (51.7%) and to mist/fumes (39.3%) were the usual complaints. This was true in all age groups although as the age group becomes older, the number of working children who got exposed to other chemicals such as gasoline, oil, mercury, oxygen, ammonia and other gaseous or liquid chemicals also increased.

Majority of those exposed to chemical hazards were boys (72.38%) and can be found in farming and retail trade.

Working children at NCR and Regions III, IV, V, VI, VII, X, XI and XII were usually exposed to dust such as silica dust, sawdust, etc.. Those at CAR, Regions I, II, VIII and IX were mostly exposed to mist/fumes coming from insecticides, paints, etc..





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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Chemical Hazards by Type of Hazards and Sex: July 1995 
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Chemical Hazards by Type of Hazards and Age Group: July 1995 
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Table Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Whose Work Involved Exposure to Chemicals by Sex , Main Industry and Types of Chemicals: July 1995
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Table Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Whose Work Involved Exposure to Chemicals by Region and Types of Chemicals: July 1995
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Biological

Hazards at Work - Biological

On the other hand, about 19 percent were exposed to biological hazards, the percentage of boys (69.2%) greater than girls (30.8%). These children were mostly exposed to bacteria (47.0%), fungus (42.0%) and parasites (28.5%). This was true in whatever age group.

Exposure to biological hazards varied by region. The most common biological hazards reported in the regions were bacteria, fungus, parasites and virus although in some regions, exposure to one biological hazard was greater than in the other regions. For instance, working children of NCR, CAR, Regions I, III, IV, V, VI VII, and X were mostly exposed to bacteria while those in Regions VIII and ARMM were mostly exposed to parasites. Children in Regions IX, XI and XII were mostly exposed to fungus. It is worth to note however, that working children in Region XI were exposed to a much wider range of biological hazards such as fungus, bacteria, parasites and virus.

Majority of those who reported exposure to these hazards were those engaged in farming.


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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Biological Hazards by Hazards and Sex: July 1995 
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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Biological Hazards by Hazards and Age Group: July 1995 
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Table Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Biological Hazards by Industry and Types of Biological Hazards: July 1995
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Table Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Biological Hazards by Region and Types of Biological Hazards: July 1995
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Physical

Hazards at Work - Physical

More than half (51.2%) of the total working children, more boys (69.0%) than girls claimed exposure to physical hazards at work. Majority complained exposure to high temperature or humidity (76.0%). This was true for both boys and girls in all age groups.

Mostly affected by these hazards were working children in rural areas, especially those engaged in farming.


 

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Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Physical Hazards by Type of Hazards and Sex: July 1995 
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Chart

Number of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Physical Hazards by Type of Hazards and Age Group : July 1995 
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Table Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Physical Hazards by Hazards and Sex: July 1995
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Table Percent of Working Children 5-17 Years Old Who Were Exposed to Physical Hazards by Type of Hazards and Region: July 1995
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Working Conditions to Improve

Working Conditions to Improve

Child workers also complained about their working conditions. A total of 560 thousand child workers complained about flooding in the work area (43.9%), unsanitary surroundings (26.1%), lack of clean water supply (26.6%), inadequate working space (18.6%), too much noise (17.9%) and inadequate ventilation and lighting (22.5%).

For most of the regions, flooding of work area was the most common complaint. In some regions however like the NCR, working children complained about too noisy work area. For working children in the Cordilleras, the problem was more on unsanitary surroundings. Lack of clean water supply was the concern of working children in Region II and Region V.

Working Conditions to Improve

About one in every three working boys expressed the need for improvements in these areas. About 64.4 percent of those who expressed the need to improve their working conditions were boys. They wanted to have clean water supply and de-flooding of work area.

Working girls on the other hand, complained about unsanitary surroundings.

In all age group, the topmost complaint on the working condition was the flooding in the work area. Next to this area for improvement were: unsanitary surroundings and inadequate working space for working children at age group 5 - 9 years; and lack of clean water supply and unsanitary surroundings for age groups 10 - 14 and 15 - 17 years.

Flooding in work area was usually complained about by children engaged in farming. This is inherent in the industry as irrigation is part of the farming process. Lack of clean water supply and unsanitary surroundings were also complained about by the children engaged in this industry.

Inadequate working space, too much noise in the work area, and inadequate ventilation were the most common problems in trading.

Those engaged in retail trade complained about inadequate working space and too much noise. Personal service workers complained about flooded work area, unsanitary surroundings and inadequate working space.

Working Conditions to Improve



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Number of Children 5-17 Years Old Who Wanted Some Improvements at Work Area by Areas for Improvement and Sex: July 1995 
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Chart

Number of Children 5-17 Years Old Who Wanted Some Improvements at Work Area by Areas for Improvement and Age Group: July 1995 
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Table Percent of Children 5-17 Years Old Who Wanted Some Improvements at Work Area by Areas for Improvement, Industry and Sex: July 1995
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Table Percent of Children 5-17 Years Old Who Wanted Some Improvements at Work Area by Areas for Improvement and Region: July1995
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Updated by Magic Software. Approved by MH. Last update: 11 September 2002.