References to occupational exposures Challenges faced by workers the community, especially if they were migrants. The presence of child labour in mining was attributed to poverty. Children were documented working in artisanal and small-scale mines in order to help the family and supplement total household income in order to buy basic goods and food. In Tanzania, child labour in the mining sites was described as common from the age of 10. The former Special Rapporteur saw children working and playing with their bare hands with toxic mercury, a particularly dangerous state of affairs as they are vulnerable to physical and chemical hazards. Mercury can cause severe damage to the developing brain, especially for developing children. The former Special Rapporteur was particularly concerned that children as young as 10 were being exposed to such highly toxic substances. The former Special Rapporteur regretted the lack of statistics on occupational diseases related to mining. The former Special Rapporteur was informed by the authorities, non-governmental organizations and mining associations that there was no system of recording mining-related incidents, such as accidents that occur during the processing of gold amongst others. This was particularly worrying given the fact that artisanal and small-scale miners are often some of the poorest people and are therefore unlikely to have access to health-care. The former Special Rapporteur was further informed that while many miners were aware of the toxicity and dangers of mercury poisoning as well as other chemicals that may be harmful to their health, the miners and communities do not know when deaths and illnesses are related to their work, or to other illnesses. Communications sent to On 17 July 2006, the former Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal regarding allegations and replies received from relating to the SS Blue Lady (ex-Norway) bearing tonnes of toxic wastes such as asbestos, Governments polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other contaminants in its structure, and which was reportedly waiting to be dismantled in Alang, state of Gujarat, India. The ship was reportedly (see A/HRC/7/21/Add.1, denied entry to ship breaking yards in Bangladesh in February 2006 based on its toxic waste Germany, Malaysia) content. It was alleged that the ship-breaking yards in Alang lacked the possibility of protection of (2006) workers from exposure to toxic chemicals and environmentally sound management of toxic wastes. According to reports from experts, as much as 1,200 tonnes of asbestos remained in the SS Blue Lady, posing grave risks to workers and the community. The former Special Rapporteur expressed concerned with the potential human rights violations that could occur if the allegations mentioned in this communication were correct and the dismantling of the ship did indeed take place. • Monitoring and enforcement gaps • Exploitation of those most at risk • Informal economy • Opaque supply chains and the transfer of hazardous work • Failures to realize the right to information “Shipbreaking” • Inadequate standards of protection • Monitoring and (A/HRC/12/26) (2009) Shipbreaking represents an important source of raw material supply and provides jobs to tens of thousands of persons. Over 95 per cent of a ship can be recycled. In principle the recycling of end-of-life vessels constitutes the best option for ships that have reached the end of their operating life, and proper facilities are available to recycle ships. However, the abhorrent working A/HRC/39/48 24 Report