these hazardous occupations arc carried on by a person with the help of his family mcmbcrs

ANNEXURE I ANNEXURE I ∗CHILD WORKERS IN CONSTRUCTION AND RELATED INDUSTRIES I. INTRODUCTION The images of children at work under the scorching sun on building sites or in dark sweat shops lit up by welding sparks, have persisted for at least two generations. There is a danger of relegating the problem to the deadly realm of normalcy. Yet behind these apparently unchanging images there has been a rapid increase in the number of child workers employed in dangerous occupations in the informal sector. At the same time, a whole range of new hazards have emerged for child workers; toxic chemicals which they handle, carcinogenic fumes which they breathe, leading to disease and deformity of body and mind. Behind the façade of normalcy both the scale and intensity of the problem of child labour is acquiring a nightmarish dimension. Policy makers as well as the community must understand and act to arrest this mutilation of a new generation. This paper is the first systematic attempt ant understanding the nature and extent of hazards faced by child workers in the construction and related industries, which perhaps are not only growing more rapidly but have far greater hazards than any other set of occupations in which children are employed. This study is based on a field survey of 400 child workers in 200 small-scale establishments in Lahore. Section 1 places the study in the overall perspective of child work in Pakistan. An estimate of the total ...