Britain’s HSE Updates Workplace Guidance on Biological Hazards

The Health and Safety Executive has published “extensively improved” guidance on controlling biological hazards at work, according to an e-bulletin published by HSE in May. The updated guidance is intended to help employers identify and manage biological hazards and infection risks, with a particular emphasis on providing practical advice for risk assessment. HSE is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety.

HSE’s guidance describes biological agents as micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, or parasites, as well as substances such as proteins, that can cause infections, allergies, and other hazards to human health. Workers may be incidentally exposed to biological agents in industries ranging from health and social care to mail handling. Exposures can also occur in microbiological containment facilities or pharmaceutical and veterinary medicine production facilities where employees deliberately work with biological agents. HSE’s redesigned biosafety website provides guidance for different industries and on specific exposure scenarios, such as work with genetically modified organisms, certain animal pathogens, bloodborne viruses, and pandemic preparedness.

Additional information is provided in HSE’s e-bulletin.