Legislative developments in exposure to biological agents at work

The Official State Gazette has published on December 10, 2020 the Order TES/1180/2020 of December 4, which adapts the Royal Decree 664/1997 of December 12 based on technical progress. May on the protection of workers against risks related to exposure to biological agents during work.

EU Directive 90/679 of 26 November on the protection of workers against risks related to exposure to biological agents during work, was incorporated into Spanish law by Royal Decree 664/1997, which establishes the minimum provisions applicable to activities in which workers are or may be exposed to biological agents due to the nature of their work activity and aims to protect workers against risks to your health and safety derived from exposure to biological agents during work, as well as the prevention of said risks.

The time that has elapsed since the approval of these standards and of EU Directive 2000/54, whose Annex III includes the list of biological agents that are known human pathogens, classified according to the level of risk of infection they present, required the modification of the list so that it reflects the most recent state of knowledge with regard to scientific and epidemiological advances that have led to important changes, including the existence of new agents biological

For this reason, EU Directive 2019/1833 has recently been approved, modifying Annexes I, III, V and VI of EU Directive 2000/54, which includes as one of the most important modifications that of Annex III in order to include a large number of biological agents, including the so-called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

All of this has motivated the need to transpose these latest European standards into our regulations, which is carried out through this new Order TES/1180/2020 of December 4, adaptation to the technical progress of the Royal Decree to prevent risks related to exposure to biological agents during work.

At Fraternidad-Muprespa we work to disseminate a culture of prevention with the aim of reducing the accident rate of our mutual partners, which is why we encourage you to that you know our web portal dedicated to the prevention of occupational risks and development of a culture of health Previene where you can find interesting informative material with entertaining and specialized.