Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Infections at work and GMOs
This page provides links to the home pages for two sites that contain information relating to microbiological safety. These sites cover occupationally-acquired infections and the contained use of genetically modified organisms.
This site covers ill health caused by exposure to micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses (commonly known as pathogens, bugs and germs) during work activities. This is a broad topic that ranges from accidental infections with gut bacteria in the sewage industry, that result in mild diarrhoea, to laboratory accidents involving more serious pathogens such as HIV.
This site is primarily designed to provide information to employers, workers and health and safety professionals. There is also some information that will also be of interest to others with a more general interest in biological agents.
This site describes the health and safety regime covering work with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in contained facilities, such as research laboratories or biotechnology production facilities.
The types of work covered range from routine laboratory work, involving the cloning of human genes in bacterial strains that are inherently safe, to projects that are at the very frontiers of our understanding of the way in which the most serious pathogens cause disease.
This site does not cover the deliberate release of modified plants in field trials of GM crops.
This site is primarily designed to provide information to assist biological safety officers, employers and others working in the field, in their task of complying with health and safety legislation. There is also some information that will also be of interest to others with a more general interest in biosafety.