A/HRC/39/48 C. Rights of workers at heightened risk 30. Workers, like all human beings, are born free and equal in their rights.33 Often, it is persons living in situations that marginalize them and render them vulnerable to violations of their rights who are harmed by exposure to toxic substances. Yet everyone has the right to protection from discrimination and equal treatment before the law. No worker, or worker’s child, should bear the burden of occupational disease or disability that can follow from discrimination on the grounds of age, income, race, religion, gender, country of origin, intelligence, political views or other distinction. 1. Rights of the child and women 31. Every child has the right to be free from the worst forms of child labour. Work where children use or are otherwise exposed to pesticides, toxic industrial chemicals, metals or other hazardous substances constitutes one of the worst forms of child labour (A/HRC/33/41). The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the right of the child to be protected from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical development (art. 32). The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) identifies as the worst forms of child labour “work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children” (art. 3). Exposing children to toxic substances at work is indefensible. 32. Safeguarding reproductive health from hazardous working conditions is a core obligation of States in the elimination of discrimination against women in employment. 34 Women workers have a right to special protection during all periods that pose reproductive risks to them 35 as well as to their offspring, which requires protection from work that exposes them or their fetus to toxic chemicals. 33. At the same time, women should not be deprived of equal opportunities for employment or income. Of particular concern is that women workers are exposed to toxic substances at work before and during the earliest stages of pregnancy, even before they may know they are pregnant. This reality requires special care on the part of States and businesses to protect women’s reproductive health by preventing their exposure to toxic substances without limiting employment in a discriminatory fashion. The best means of doing so is by eliminating toxic substances at work. 2. Rights of migrant workers and workers with disabilities 34. The prohibition against racial discrimination applies in all its forms. Race or ethnicity should likewise not be a prohibiting factor in the realization by workers of the right to safe and healthy working conditions. 36 Migrant workers, whether documented or undocumented, have a right to equality and to enjoy equal treatment to nationals regarding safety and health and other conditions of work.37 Persons with disabilities have the right, on an equal basis with others, to safe and healthy working conditions and related human rights.38 D. Right to an effective remedy 35. Accountability is a fundamental principle of human rights. States and other duty bearers must be answerable to workers, among other rights holders, for observing human rights obligations. The right to an effective remedy is inseparable from the right to information, as effective remedies for exposure to toxic substances depend on the 33 34 35 36 37 38 8 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 1. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 11 (1) (f). Ibid., art. 11 (2) (d). International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, art. 5 (d) (i). International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, art. 25 (1) (a). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 27.