Presented the update of the technical guide on biological agents at work
The INSST has presented this week in Barcelona the update of the Technical guide for the evaluation and prevention of risks related to exposure to biological agents during work.
Exposure to biological agents can occur through intentional work with specific microorganisms, as occurs in diagnostic and research laboratories and in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, but also unintentionally. This last situation is common in the food industry, agriculture and livestock, waste treatment and urban cleaning, construction, the health sector, etc.
In general, the risk of contact with biological agents is present in almost any activity and is associated with a wide range of health effects, such as infectious diseases and toxic and allergic effects that manifest mainly in the form of respiratory pathologies. It is estimated that every year, around 320,000 working people die in the world from work-related infectious diseases and about 5,000 of them in the European Union.
The new edition of this guide provides criteria and recommendations to facilitate the application of the Royal Decree 664/1997 ___reference standard for protection against biological risk. Among its main novelties is the improvement in the identification and evaluation of risks due to exposure to biological agents, even when this is not evident. Likewise, it expands preventive measures to reduce risks, updating the appendices on environmental measurement, personal protective equipment, decontamination, biosafety in laboratories or vaccination, among others.
Specially, the effort made to differentiate exposure to biological risks deliberately or not stands out, thus allowing the application of measures that are more adjusted to the real work context.
