A journey through human rights and your company

A journey through human rights and your company Page 14 | 24 Human rights are relevant for companies, because these, when carrying out their operations, can impact on the set of human rights of all their Stakeholders. Let us look at some practical examples : Companies can have an impact on the human rights of their own employees , for instance, ‘One company detects that several of its suppliers in Brazil employ a high percentage of children in their manufacturing plants.” Companies may impact the human rights of their customers , for instance ‘’A company creates a product that contains toxic parts, causing physical damage to several of its customers, impacting on the right to health.” Companies can also have an impact on the human rights of society as a whole , for instance "A company makes highly polluting discharges into a river, causing the appearance of characteristic stains indicating the presence of hydrocarbons and/or oils and fats on the surface of the river, rocks and riverside vegetation and in the aquatic plants of the river bed which causes the displacement of the local population, impacting on the right to health and the right to housing.” Companies must, therefore, identify their real and potential impacts in terms of human rights, in order to prevent them, as well as launch mitigation and compensation measures in the event that they occur.