References to occupational exposures Challenges faced by workers as a disease for several years. Due to these and other factors, only a small percentage of workers have access to an effective remedy for violations of their rights. Child labourers, female workers, migrant workers and residents of low-income communities are significantly more vulnerable to toxic impacts due to unique sensitivities, cumulative impacts or unequal protections under the law. One of the worst forms of child labour is that in which children work with, or are exposed to any level of, hazardous substances. The World Health Organization (WHO) has published studies showing that children who work with hazardous substances have shorter average lifespans. Children are also at risk through the transmission of their parents’ occupational exposures, in particular from their mother while they are in the womb or through breast milk. States must ensure that workers are able to enjoy the right to safe and healthy working conditions. States must protect the right of workers to just, decent and favourable conditions of work by preventing occupational exposure to toxic chemicals, a right that is indivisible from the right to the highest attainable level of physical and mental health and the right to physical integrity. States must ensure that workers have access to information and effective remedy for violations; they must also ensure that migrant workers enjoy the same rights as nationals of the State of employment regarding protection from toxic exposure. • Exploitation of those most at risk The report recommends States uphold human rights through legislation to protecting against infringements resulting from toxic exposures at work. Many States have established constitutional rights and legislation of direct relevance to toxics in the workplace. Legislation in place covers particular life-cycle stages, different types of substances, different product categories, information requirements and other aspects relevant to the State’s duty to protect. • Inadequate standards of protection • Limited progress in prevention of exposure • Deliberate efforts to delay or obstruct protection from toxic exposure • Limited progress in prevention of The report recommends States translate evidence of potential impacts on the enjoyment of human rights into timely and effective measures to respect, protect and fulfil each right implicated. The ability to protect the human rights to life and to health and to realize the right to access to the benefits of scientific progress and its applications hinges upon the ability to translate evidence into protective laws and policies. As discussed above, States must make expeditious progress in the realization of the rights to life and to health, taking all possible measures to protect those rights. However, despite evidence of risks and impacts, there have been instances where the procedures of some States have enabled private interests to use scientific uncertainties as a basis for delaying action to reduce risks. This has led to extreme delays, some lasting decades, in translating evidence of hazard and risk into measures necessary to protect workers, children and others most at risk. This is an unfortunate exploitation of scientific uncertainty by private interests. Scientific uncertainty will always exist. Several States have adopted the principle of precaution to help ensure that action is taken despite those uncertainties. The principle of precaution is essential to the progressive realization of numerous human rights implicated by hazardous substances and wastes. The report notes that businesses should identify and assess the actual and potential adverse human rights impacts in which they may be involved either through their own activities or as a result of their business relationships. They should identify actual and potential impacts throughout the life A/HRC/39/48 52 Report