Industry, occupation or activity	Minimum age	Country
Abattoirs and meat rendering	18	Central African Republic, Congo, Denmark,1 Finland, Gabon, Guinea, Luxembourg,1 Thailand, Togo, United States, Zaire
	17	Egypt
	16	Bahrain, Lebanon 2
Aluminium industry	16	Bahrain, Cyprus
Agriculture	21	Uruguay
	18	Colombia,1, 3 Costa Rica,3 France,3 Spain,3, 4
	17	Australia (Queensland),5 Ukraine
	16 or 18	France 3, 6
	16	Denmark,3 United Kingdom,3 United States 3, 5
	15	Syrian Arab Republic 5
	14	India,3 Pakistan 3
Airport runways	18	Portugal
Animals, work with dangerous or wild	18	Denmark,1 Netherlands
Archaeological excavations	18	Iraq
	16	Mexico
Bakery	21	Uruguay
	18	United States
Brick manufacture	18	Austria,1 Colombia,1 United States
	16	Bahrain, Cameroon
Cable laying	18	Turkey
Care for mentally disturbed persons	18	Finland
Carpet weaving	14	India
	12	Bangladesh
Catering at railway stations	14	India
Cinderpicking, clearing an ashpit	14	India
Circular saws and other dangerous machines	18	Argentina, Australia (Victoria), Austria, Bolivia, Cameroon,1 China, Colombia,1 Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Denmark,1 Djibouti, Ecuador, France, Gabon, India, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali,35 Mauritius, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom,1 United States, Zaire
	17	Pakistan
	16	Burkina Faso, Chad, Central African Republic, Guinea, Malaysia,1 Senegal
Construction and/or demolition	18	Austria, Bolivia, Burundi, Colombia,1, 7 El Salvador, France, Gabon,8 Luxembourg,7 Madagascar,7 Netherlands, Peru,7 Spain,7 Turkey,10 United States
	16	Bahrain, Barbados, Burkina Faso,7 Cameroon,7 Central African Republic,9 Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire,7 Djibouti,7 France, Guinea,8 Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Senegal,7 Somalia, United States,7 United Kingdom
	15	Dominica, Jamaica
	14	Belize, Cyprus, India
Cranes/hoists/lifting machinery	18	Argentina, Austria, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia,1 Congo, Cyprus, Denmark,1 Gabon, Guinea, Japan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mauritius, Netherlands, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Zaire
	16	Bahrain, Denmark, France, Israel 11
Crystal and/or glass manufacture	18	Angola,1 Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Cameroon, Colombia,1 Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus,12 Denmark,1 Djibouti, Ecuador, Ireland, Madagascar, Mali,35 Portugal, Senegal
	17	Austria,3 Egypt
	16 to 18	France 3, 6
	16	Bahrain
	15	Syrian Arab Republic
	14	Pakistan
Domestic service	16	Denmark
Entertainment (night clubs, bars, casinos, circuses, gambling halls)	21	Chile, Seychelles, Uruguay
	18	Angola,1 Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica,13 Ecuador, El Salvador, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Seychelles, Switzerland,14 Thailand
	17	Egypt
	16	Djibouti, France, Honduras, Mali
	15	Thailand
	14 to 18	Dominican Republic 15
	14	Nicaragua, Republic of Korea
Excavation	18	Central African Republic, United States
Fire brigades and gas rescue services	18	Austria 1
Forestry	18	China, Netherlands, Philippines, United States
	16 to 18	Spain
Machinery in motion (operation, cleaning, repairs, etc.)	21	Uruguay
	18	Argentina, Austria,1 Bolivia, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia,1 Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Denmark,1 Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, France,16 Gabon, Greece, Guinea, India, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Myanmar, Netherlands, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Zaire, Zambia
	17	Egypt, Pakistan
	16	Bahrain, Bangladesh, Djibouti, France,16 Guyana, Jamaica, Malaysia,1 Morocco, Nigeria, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Singapore, United Kingdom
	15	Italy,17 Syrian Arab Republic
Matches, manufacture of	16	Cameroon
	14	India, Pakistan
Maritime work (trimmers and stokers, stevedoring)	21	Brazil 18
	19	Denmark 1 (stokers), Iceland
	18	Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas,19 Bangladesh,20 Bel gium, Belize,21 Burundi, Cameroon, China, Colombia,1 Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Denmark 1 Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Gabon, Iraq, Ireland,1 Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Myanmar, Nigeria,21 Pakistan,21 Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Sierra Leone,21 Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, United Kingdom,22 Yugoslavia, Zaire
	17	Canada (federal), Cuba 18
	16	Denmark,23 Finland,23 Singapore 24
	15	Kenya 25
	14	India, Pakistan 26
Mining, quarries, underground work	21	Brazil
	18	Afghanistan, Albania, Angola,1 Argentina, Australia (South and Western), Austria,1 Belarus, Belgium, Belize,1 Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi, Cambodia,1 Cameroon,1 Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia,1 Congo, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus,27 Czech Republic, Denmark,1 Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, France, Gabon, Germany,1 Ghana,28 Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho,1 Luxembourg, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland,1 Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey,10 United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Zaire, Zambia
	17	Australia (Victoria), Bangladesh, Canada (federal), Jamaica, Myanmar,29 Pakistan
	16	Bahrain, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Hungary, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Sierra Leone,2 Singapore, Solomon Islands,2 Uganda
	15	Dominica, Syrian Arab Republic
	14	Belize, Cyprus 27
Oil prospecting/work with petroleum	18	China, Sudan
	16	Bahrain, Mexico
	15	Egypt
Oxyacetylene blowpipes	16	Australia (all States), Bahrain
Paper/printing	18	Spain,4 United States
	14	Pakistan
Pedal/crank operated equipment	16	Cameroon,12 Congo, Djibouti,12 Mali
Pornographic material, production of or work at premises handling	18	Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Ecuador, Honduras,30 Uruguay, Zaire
Salt and brine processes	18	Cyprus 12
Shipbuilding	16	Cyprus
Soap manufacture	14	Bangladesh, India, Pakistan
Steam engines or equipment (work with)	18	Côte d'Ivoire, France, Sudan
	16	Cameroon, Djibouti, Mali
Street trades	18	Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru 4
	16	Burkina Faso, Cyprus, Djibouti,12 Dominican Republic, Italy, United Kingdom
	15	Costa Rica 17
	14 to 18	Ecuador 31
	14	Sri Lanka
Sugar mill	16	Jamaica
Tanneries	18	Chad, France, Gabon, Guinea, Zaire
	17	Austria, Egypt
	16	Dominican Republic, Mexico
	15	Syrian Arab Republic
	14	India, Pakistan
	12	Bangladesh
Textile industry (specific tasks)	21	Uruguay
	18	Spain 4
	16	Bahrain
	15	Egypt
	12	Bangladesh
Transportation, operating vehicles	18	Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Denmark,1 Ecuador,32 Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Pakistan,33 Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Spain,4 United States, Zaire
	17	Egypt
	16	Barbados, Dominican Republic, Israel, Kenya, Senegal,34 United Kingdom
	15	Dominica, Jamaica
	14	Belize, Cyprus, India
Underwater work	18	Austria, China, Colombia,1 Croatia, El Salvador, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Poland,1 Sudan, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey 10
	16	Dominican Republic, Mexico
Water and gas industry	18	Spain 4
Weights and loads	14 to 18	Afghanistan, Australia (Victoria), Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia,1 Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark,1 Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, India, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Mali, Netherlands, Niger, Poland,1 Saint Lucia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uruguay, Zaire
Welding and smelting of metals, metal working	18	Argentina, Australia (all States), Austria,1 Bolivia,  Cameroon, Colombia,1 Cyprus,12 Denmark,1 Ecuador, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain,4 Sudan, Sweden, Thailand, United States, Venezuela
	17	Egypt
	16	Bahrain, Mexico
	15	Syrian Arab Republic
Work alone if it involves a risk of accidents or criminal acts	18	Finland
Work at courts, prisons or as probation officers	18	Seychelles
1 Except for apprenticeships. 2 Medical certificate required. 3 For specified tasks only. 4 Minimum age of 18 for men, 21 for women. 5 Application or manufacture of agricultural chemicals. 6 Different minimum age depending on the type of work. 7 Applies only to work on scaffolding. 8 Except finishing work that does not include scaffolding. 9 Not requiring scaffolding. 10 Applies only to men, women generally prohibited. 11 Including signalling for these operations. 12 Women only. 13 Work during daytime (a general limit of 18 is imposed for all night work). 14 16 is minimum age for work in hotels, restaurants and cafes, and 18 for work in other types of entertainment.15 Prior authorization required. 16 Depending on the type of machinery. 17 Minimum age of 15 for men, 18 for women (applies to street trades in Costa Rica for unmarried women only). 18 Applies only to stevedoring. 19 16 if medically fit according to certificate presented. 20 Exceptionally 16. 21 Where a person over 18 is unavailable for a trimmer and stoker position, this position may be filled by two 16-year-olds. 22 Offshore mining. 23 Except in family undertakings not using dangerous equipment. 24 Except on family vessels. 25 Concerns employment on any vessel unless it is a training ship. a family vessel or unless a medical certificate has been obtained. 26 Concerns only fishing. 27 Minimum age of 18 for underground work; 14 for other work in mines, quarries, etc. 28 «Apparently» 18. 29 Minimum age of 17 for underground work; 15 for other work in mines, quarries, etc. 30 Minimum age 16 for men and 18 for women. 31 Authorization for men between 14 and 18 and for women between 14 and 21 only if necessary for the subsistence of the minor. 32 Only transportation of substances in a state of incandescence. 33 Minimum age of 21 in road transport services requiring the driving of a vehicle. 34 Piloting ships. 35 The competent authority may grant certain exceptions. Source: ILO: Conditions of work digest on child labour: Law and practice, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Geneva, 1991), pp. 48-54.