HSE refers to the term Health and safety Executive. It is a regulatory body in the United Kingdom responsible for overseeing and focuses on work place health and safety.
Occupational Exposure to Infections and Biological Agents
Occupational infections occur when a person attains an illness-through contact with pathogenic agents such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, or prions. These are called ‘biological agents’ in health and safety legislation. Exposure to these micro-organisms can harm you in several ways: by acute or chronic infections, by toxic substances they elaborated, or even by hypersensitivity to the organisms or their products.
Most types of micro-organisms are in nature and the greater percentage of all of them are non-pathogenic to man. Indeed, they participate in our lives as producers of medicine, oil slick cleaners, and contribute to the generation of half the oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere. However, there are some micro-organisms that are pathogenic that can cause infections, allergic reactions and toxic effects.
You can come across pathogenic organisms at your workplace if you are directly interacting with them for example if you are a micro biologist. But more often, exposure occurs accidentally within the line of duty, for instance in health facilities, in farming, or in any other sector where contamination with micro-organisms is not the goal of your job.
In 2002, more than 2000 fresh instances of Occupational Infections were reported which were higher than the rates reported a year before. Almost all of these developments were recorded in healthcare employees, while diarrheal diseases were the dominant form of illness.
Where an employee is deliberately exposed to micro organisms for example in laboratories and research facilities or when exposed accidentally through working in health facilities like hospitals or nursing homes then the regulatory body is the HSE. However, in those situations where exposure to micro-organisms is less direct (for example in tattoo parlors, or in large office buildings where cooling towers have been identified as a possible source of Legionnaires’ disease), responsibility for safety regulation reverts to local authorities. The details and recommendations regarding such types of workplaces are available on the Local Authority Unit’s website.
Infection At work and HSE
WHAT IS HSE?
HSE refers to the term Health and safety Executive. It is a regulatory body in the United Kingdom responsible for overseeing and focuses on work place health and safety.
In Great Britain, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) enforces laws that seek to protect people from the risks caused by microorganism from which they may come into contact at work.
COSHH is the main law that applies in this area. Hazardous substances such as dangerous micro organisms are covered in this legislation. There are also specific rules under COSHH to cover these biological agent.
Employers are required under COSHH, together with its guidance documents (Approved Codes of Practice or ACOPs) to assess the risks of their employees’ exposure to harmful micro organisms. Whether exposure can be prevented or controls can be put in place to protect workers, they must.