Artisanal and small-scale gold mining

Incorporating child labour, poor working conditions and other labour issues in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in local development programmes: A pilot study in Labo, Camarines Norte

In the Philippines, the mining industry is generally divided into: (a) large-scale; and (b) small-scale mining (SSM). Large-scale mining (LSM) is industrially or skillfully run and mechanized while SSM relies solely on manual labour using simple methods and equipment.

Children engaging in small-scale mining could be adversely affected in terms of their school participation and health among others. A case study conducted by ILO-IPEC (2003) illustrates that, the mining and quarrying sector employed an estimated 17,980 children between 5-17 years old, who were subjected to daily hazards such as noise, high temperature/humidity, inadequate illumination, slip/fall hazards, as well as exposure to dust and chemical
hazards.