A/HRC/45/12/Add.1 E. Workers 58. Unquestionably, some workers experience a unique and elevated risk of chemical exposure. In Canada, occupational diseases and disabilities due to such exposure pose a major challenge to the fulfilment of workers’ rights. Recent estimates show that, nationally, over 2.9 million workers are exposed to carcinogens and other hazardous substances at work, which is an underestimation.90 The exposure that many workers endure is much higher than the exposure levels of the general population. Often, for the substances in question, there is no safe level of exposure. 59. There remains significant opportunity for action, including on the intersectionality of occupational exposure for some subpopulations, 91 including persons of different genders, racialized persons, indigenous people and workers living in poverty, who are already in situations of vulnerability and are more likely to hold precarious positions than other workers.92 All these factors further entrench their vulnerability to exposure to toxics. 60. The Chemicals Management Plan could help to better protect workers (see para. 8 above). Under the Plan, Canada does not recognize workers as a vulnerable population, despite workers being one of the groups most vulnerable to toxic chemicals.93 Furthermore, the Plan does not account for occupational exposure in risk assessments, which results in chemicals being misclassified as non-toxic because the general public is not exposed to the same degree as workers.94 While progress has been made to assess the risks posed by over 3,000 chemicals to the general public, the levels of exposure and corresponding risks to workers have not been adequately evaluated. 61. Many cases of occupational disease-related deaths remain unrecorded due to various challenges, including lack of data and of accurate health reports.95 The fact that diseases are often diagnosed decades after employment poses a significant challenge for victims seeking compensation,96 especially for latent occupational diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer, which result from asbestos exposure.97 Asbestos exposure is the leading cause of occupational death in Canada. 62. While health care is available and accessible to many in Canada, it can reduce individuals’ motivation to pursue judicial remedies, which artificially lowers recorded incidences and does not contribute to improvements in prevention or accountability. In Canada, mesothelioma is a compensable disease, yet less than 50 per cent of potential claimants do not pursue their rights through reporting; they incorrectly believe that at the time they were exposed none of the duty bearers knew of asbestos’ potential harm to workers.98 Without concerted efforts to raise awareness and provide support in accessing the justice system to pursue compensation, such victims’ rights are left unfulfilled. F. People and peoples outside Canada 63. The groups that are disproportionately affected by business activities in Canada99 are the same groups subjected to the effects of these activities abroad. In these respects, Canada 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 www.carexcanada.ca/CAREX_Health_Care_Package_Oct_2019.pdf. www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/chemical-substances/consulting-future-chemicalsmanagement-canada/what-we-heard-defining-vulnerable-populations.html. www.lco-cdo.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/vulnerable-workers-final-report.pdf. www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/about-health-canada/accountability-performancefinancial-reporting/evaluation-reports/evaluation-phase-chemicals-management-plan-2011-20122015-2016.html#exsum. Ibid. www.uregina.ca/business/faculty-staff/faculty/file_download/2019-Report-on-Workplace-Fatalitiesand-Injuries.pdf. www.cia-ica.ca/docs/default-source/2015/215005e.pdf. Ibid. http://cansav.ca/compensation; www.asbestos.com/mesothelioma/canada/. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 24 (2017). 13