Apple has admitted on its latest report auditing the tech firm's contracted suppliers and manufacturers that some 91 child labourers were employed by mainly Chinese companies assembling the popular gadgets marketed by the US consumer electronics giant.

The same report also confirmed reports that 137 workers were poisoned while working at a facility contracted by Apple to manufacture its products while more than 30 percent of companies attached with the tech firm's manufacturing activities are found to be complying with its working hours code.

Apple said that the number of minors working for its Chinese contractors spiked from the 11 children discovered last year to its present level of 91 young workers, prompting for the separation of one company.

Also, Apple has reported that it insisted that children found working on contractors facilities should be sent to school with the costs to be shouldered by the owners. The company added that extensive age-auditing of offshore Apple workers has been undertaken last year, in light of the reports reaching the company about widespread forgings of ages by kids still unfit to work.

The new report also showed that Apple contractors are hardly complying with the company's rules on working hours as compliance dipped from the 46 percent that made the grade in 2009 to just 32 percent given the passing mark in 2010. Apple also found that only 57 percent met its standard for preventing work injuries while 70 percent reached passing mark for environmental compliance.

While a 70 percent improvement was seen on wages and benefits of workers hired by Apple contractors, employees' working conditions are still cause for concerns as 137 assemblers were poisoned by n-hexane at a Suzhou plant last year, an incident confirmed by the new report though Apple still declined to give out details.

The new Apple audit report also touched on the suicides that occurred on Foxconn, one of the company's major suppliers, with the tech giant expressing its deep regrets on the numerous deaths and even sending company chief operating officer Tim Cook to check on the site.

While critics welcomed some semblance of transparency carried by the operational audit implemented on Apple's Chinese contractors, they stressed that the spirit of accountability is still lacking as the company remains adamant on its stance to disclose the identity of its erring suppliers.

Also, Hong Kong-based activist Debby Chan told the British daily, The Guardian, that issuing reports would not check on the misfits committed by Apple contractors as she stressed that the newly-released audit only serves "as a means of image-building rather than ensuring compliance with labour rights."