The Tripartite Process of Determining Hazardous Child Labour: Guide for facilitators – Eliminating hazardous child labour step by step

This Guide has been developed to aid countries in taking a key step toward protecting young people from hazardous work by determining what work is to be prohibited due to the danger it poses to their physical, psychological, or moral health…commonly called the “hazardous child labour list”. The objective is to help countries improve the quality and thoroughness of the Tripartite Consultations which are called for in the ILO child labour Convention No. 138 on the minimum age for admission to employment (1973) and the ILO child labour Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour (1999). Consultation between Governments, workers’ representatives, and employers is a cornerstone of the process of determining hazardous child labour. The importance of the Tripartite Consultations stems from the fact that they offer Governments and their social partners (workers’ and employers’ organizations) an opportunity to look at the issue of child labour from various angles and to decide among themselves what will be considered as hazardous work and what, for example in the case of older children, should be left open for youth employment. These are practical decisions, but they also have important implications for policy. The quality of the Tripartite Consultation determines the quality of the list, and thereby, the quality of ensuing actions to eliminate child labour and protect employed youth.