Biological Agents in the Healthcare Sector

Healthcare Work Activities

Exposure to biological agents in healthcare may be:

• intentional, as a result of working with the biological agent itself, such as in a microbiology laboratory; or
• unintentional, such as in patient care activities, where the exposure may arise as a result of the type of work being carried out.

Healthcare workers may come into contact with a number of sources of infection either through direct contact with patients or with contaminated materials, including  waste, laundry, contaminated surfaces etc.

The Law

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Biological Agents) Regulations 2013 and 2020 ( S.I. No. 572 of 2013 as amended by S.I. No.539 of 2020) and the related Code of Practice set down the minimum requirements for the protection of workers from the health risks associated with biological agents in the workplace. The Health and Safety Authority is the enforcing agency with regard to these Regulations. The Health and Safety Authority does not deal with clinical risk issues with regard to infection control in healthcare, as this is more appropriately dealt with elsewhere.

These Regulations require that particular attention must be given to managing the risk from infections which will include hazard identification, assessment of the level of risk (taking account of who could be harmed and how), identification and implementation of control measures to eliminate the risk where possible, and if not, to reduce the risk to ensure a safe working environment.

Useful Websites

• Health Protection Surveillance Centre
• Department of Health
• HSA Learning Module 3 (Biological Agents Hazards)