Exposure To Hazardous Substances, Biological Risks And Communicable Disease

Exposure to hazardous substances and biological risks threatens both transport workers’ safety and health and the resilience of supply chains.

Workers operate in environments – including ports, terminals, warehouses, ships, airports and aircraft – where chemicals, fumes, fuels, dust and infectious diseases are present. Cargo handling, cleaning, fuelling, maintenance, and passenger-facing roles all bring workers in contact with them. Uncontrolled, exposure causes acute illness and lasting damage to workers’ health.

Workers who interact with passengers or travel across borders face heightened exposure to communicable diseases, particularly in confined spaces such as vehicle cabs, ships and aircraft cabins. These risks are compounded where access to healthcare, sick pay and social protection is inconsistent – as it is routinely for mobile, migrant and precariously employed workers operating across jurisdictions or through subcontracting.

What effective HREDD requires

The risk of exposure is inherent, not incidental to transport operations. Controlling these risks is essential to protecting workers’ health, maintaining operational continuity and reducing legal and reputational risk.

As part of HREDD, companies must identify where and how workers are exposed and put robust preventive controls in place across all direct, contracted and subcontracted operations. All workers, regardless of employment status, must have occupational safety and health protections, appropriate personal protective equipment, clear reporting mechanisms and healthcare.

Effective prevention requires engagement with workers and trade unions to identify risks, monitor protections and maintain consistent safety and health standards across supply chains. Where risks are found, companies must take prompt corrective action: strengthening controls and ensuring affected workers receive protection and support.