A 2019 UN report claims that exposure of workers to hazardous substances is a critical issue that must be addressed by businesses and governments worldwide.
The report, written by former UN Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes Baskut Tuncak, refers to the issue as a “global health crisis”.
“Workers’ rights are human rights. No one should be denied their basic human rights, including the rights to live and health because of the work they perform.”
Baskut Tuncak
In the report, Tuncak proposed fifteen principles that aim to help governments and businesses protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), two people are killed every minute due to occupational exposure to hazardous substances.
“I’m sure it is expensive for companies to trace chemicals through the tiers of their supply chains but it’s a cost of doing business. This is a responsibility and moral obligation – and in some jurisdictions a legal obligation.” says the former UN special rapporteur.
Findings from the report
The report’s findings, which have been collated over four years, highlight that within global supply chains, workers are not being protected from toxic exposures.
The textile industry faces a major issue in terms of chemical exposure to workers. Those who work in textile mills, particularly those who are engaged in textile dying, printing and finishing, are exposed to a range of dangerous chemicals.
Tuncak wants to strengthen the efforts of businesses and governments to protect workers from exposure to toxics. The UN expert has stated in his principles that businesses must ensure that information regarding worker exposure to hazardous substances is accessible when products are being purchased or used.
The 15 principles
The report identified the following principles to protect workers from hazardous exposure in and around the workplace:
A. Principles on duties and responsibilities to prevent exposure (1-7)
1. Everyone must be protected from exposure to toxic substances at work.
2. States have a duty to protect the human rights of workers through the prevention of exposure to toxic substances.
3. Business enterprises have a responsibility to prevent occupational exposures to toxic substances.
4. Hazard elimination is paramount in preventing occupational exposures.
5. Duties and responsibilities to prevent the exposure of workers to toxic substances extend beyond borders.
6. States must prevent third parties from distorting scientific evidence or manipulating processes to perpetuate exposure.
7. Protecting workers from exposure to toxic substances protects their families, their communities and the environment.
B. Principles regarding information, participation and assembly (8 – 11)
8. Every worker has the right to know, including to know their rights.
9. Health and safety information about toxic substances must never be confidential.
10. The right to safe and healthy work is inseparable from freedom of association, the right to organize and the right to collective bargaining.
11. Workers, representatives of workers, whistle-blowers and rights defenders must all be protected from intimidation, threats and other forms of reprisals.
C. Principles regarding effective remedies (12 – 15)
12. Workers, their families and their communities must have immediate access to an appropriate and effective remedy, which should be available from the time of exposure.
13. Workers or their families should not bear the burden of proving the cause of their illness or disability to access an effective remedy.
14. Depriving workers of their right to safe and healthy work should be a crime.
15. States should ensure accountability for cross-border cases of workers harmed by occupational exposure.
Who is responsible for criminal liability?
The report declared that governments should ensure that criminal liability for exposing workers to hazardous substances is included in national legislation. Tuncak states that cases should be investigated and prosecuted to ensure that heads of business accept responsibility for, knowingly or negligently, exposing workers to chemical substances.
It was also argued that companies and governments are currently failing to meet a duty to uphold the rights of workers under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Moyna Merrison, former Director of chemical safety specialist’s Sypol, said; “This report highlights the growing profile of hazardous substance management, not only as an integral part of health and safety practices, but also as a topic of worldwide political importance.”
“While businesses and governments have made great strides to protect the health of workers, there is undoubtedly still more that can be done. The fact that 2.6 million people globally die every year due to work-related diseases just goes to show the scale of the problem. Standards of worker safeguarding across the world vary considerably, so more robust management of hazardous substances is vital to protect workers wherever they earn a living.”
What you can do to protect your workers
If your employees regularly encounter hazardous chemicals at work, you can prevent or minimize exposure to hazardous substances with successful chemical substitution.
EcoOnline’s chemical substitution software streamlines the substitution process with our comparison grid that proposes safer alternatives.
