References to occupational exposures Information on the hazards associated with the handling of hazardous medical waste, access to training opportunities on the safety procedures to minimize hazards, and proper personal protective equipment were noted to constitute essential preconditions for the enjoyment of the right to safe and healthy conditions of work. In many health-care establishments around the world, the lack of adequate waste management plans to ensure the safe and environmentally sound segregation, collection, transport, treatment and disposal of medical waste continue to expose a significant number of people from a wide range of occupations to the risk of injury and illness. The report notes that WHO has elaborated a number of policy, management and advocacy tools to minimize the risks that the improper management of health-care waste pose to health-care workers, patients, waste handlers, the community at large and the environment, and to facilitate the establishment and sustained maintenance of a sound system of health-care waste management. In most developing countries and economies in transition, the lack of adequate technical resources for the safe and sound management of health-care waste, the limited funding for health-care waste management and the inadequate awareness of the direct and indirect risks posed by health-care waste constitute the main obstacles to the development of a comprehensive regulatory framework on health-care waste management and to its effective implementation. The former Special Rapporteur recommended that States strengthen their legal framework on hospital hygiene and occupational health and safety, and provide adequate human, technical and financial resources to national authorities responsible for its enforcement. He also recommends that health authorities organize educational programmes and training opportunities to raise awareness about health, safety and environmental protection issues relating to medical waste management. In view of the fact that persons working within and outside health-care establishments often receive limited information and training opportunities on the occupational risks to which they are exposed and on the correct procedures for handling waste in a safe manner, the former Special Rapporteur urged relevant national health authorities to include waste management in the curricula of future medical practitioners and nurses, to provide appropriate information on the occupational risks to which medical and paramedical staff may be exposed, and to organize training opportunities on safe health-care waste management for staff handling medical waste. The former Special Rapporteur called on health-care establishments to take all appropriate measures to improve health and safety conditions for those handling medical waste in and outside health-care establishments. Such measures should include: (a) Access to information on the specific occupational risks to which different categories of workers are exposed, and the safety measures to minimize such risks; (b) The provision of appropriate personal protective equipment for persons handling hazardous health-care waste; (c) Access, on a voluntary basis, to vaccination against such common infectious diseases as tetanus and hepatitis; (d) The organization of training opportunities and safety workshops designed for and targeting different categories of hospital personnel (such as medical doctors, nurses, hospital cleaners and waste handlers); (e) Regular Challenges faced by workers A/HRC/39/48 34 Report