Transport is a blind spot in supply chains – posing systemic, severe, hidden risks to the companies it serves. Below are the key human and labour rights risks companies must identify and address across transport supply chains – and what effective HREDD requires in practice.
Risks
Systemic Risk
Systemic risks in transport are driven by how work is organised – across mobile workplaces and fragmented subcontracting chains.
OSH Risks
Commercial pressure and unrealistic schedules can drive excessive hours and unsafe working conditions.
Wages, Working and Living Conditions
Challenges with attracting and retaining workers across some transport sectors have become a persistent, long-term challenge for supply chains.
Forced Labour and Human Trafficking
Rising temperatures and severe weather are already reshaping working conditions in transport
Discrimination
Fragmented employment arrangements weaken accountability and expose workers to greater risk.
Violence + Harrassment
A widespread risk across transport, shaped by public-facing work, isolation, and power imbalance
Sanitation
Access to safe and secure facilities is essential to worker health, dignity, and equality in transport.
New Technology
Technology is changing how work is organised, supervised, controlled and performed across global supply chains.
Freedom of Association + Collective Bargaining
Restrictions on freedom of association and collective bargaining are systemic risks across transport supply chains and undermine the realisation of all other labour rights.