NEW HELP TO TACKLE INFECTION RISKS AT WORK

HSC press release C057:03 - 16 October 2003

The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) today published new health and safety guidance on how to control the risks posed from infections at work, as part of the European Week for Safety and Health 13 -18 October 2003.

The guidance aims to clearly explain to employers their legal duties under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), which includes how to produce risk assessments and identify potential hazards in the workplace.

The ACDP is a group of experts who advise the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and health and agriculture Ministers. Their new guidance provides information on the nature, sources and transmission of infections, as well as possible control measures such as hand washing and the provision of appropriate protective clothing.

Dr Jim Neilson, Head of the Biological Agents and GMO unit at HSE and Secretary to the ACDP, said: "This guidance is aimed at providing employers from a wide range of industries with the information and skills needed to assess, understand and control the infection risks to their staff arising from work activities

"The guidance is aimed at all workers but will be especially useful to those who may not specifically work with biological agents, but who may be incidentally exposed to biological agents during the course of their work, such as farmers, refuse workers and cleaners."

Copies of Infection at Work: Controlling the Risks are available on HSE's website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/danpath.htm and the DoH's website.

Notes to editors

1. The 'Infection at work' guidance has been published to coincide with the European Week for Safety and Health at Work, 13-18 October. The European Week is an information campaign that encourages the involvement and active participation of everyone to raise standards of health and safety in the workplace. This year 's theme is dangerous substances, which includes biological agents.

2. The new guidance is based on the precautionary principles contained in the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 2002. These regulations place a duty on employers to identify the hazards in their workplace, assess the risk posed and put control measures in place to control these risks.

3. ACDP previously produced guidance for those who work intentionally with biological agents, primarily in a laboratory setting. The COSHH update in 2002 presented an opportunity to raise awareness amongst employers of the dangers of incidental exposure to biological agents in the workplace. Thus the decision was made to issue revised guidance to cover all occupations, including those where employees may be incidentally exposed to biological agents due to work activities

4.The guidance includes details of how employers need to go about assessing the risks in their workplace. It also introduces a number of potential control measures that can be put into place to mitigate the risk. This includes the provision of 'example' risk assessments. The guidance also provides information on the most common forms of infection that can be countered in the workplace.

5.The guidance will be made publicly available through the ACDP website Infection at work: Controlling the risks, in order to allow for accurate and timely updates when appropriate. Readers should be advised to frequently check the website to ensure information is as up to date as possible. The guidance will also be linked to a number of other relevant websites.

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