Módulo 2.Medidas, prácticas y modelos de gestión y prevención de riesgos de enfermedades relacionadas con el trabajo en los sectores existentes y emergentes que utilizan sustancias y productos químicos peligrosos, incluidos los explosivos, peligrosos para el medio ambiente, tóxicos, cancerígenos, etc. /free/

Biological hazards should be treated as any other hazard in the workplace. They need to be assessed to determine how they should be controlled. A conventional, task-based risk assessment is a valid way of assessing the risks.

Hierarchy of control

When controlling the risks, a hierarchy of control approach is just as effective for biological hazards as other hazards and risks in the workplace.

• Elimination
• Substitution
• Engineering controls
• Administrative controls
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

By implementing controls in the workplace, the risk of biological hazards can be greatly reduced and, in some cases, they can be eliminated. The main controls used to address biological hazards are engineering, administrative controls and PPE.

Engineering controls

Where risks cannot be eliminated or substituted, this level of controls can be designed to lower the risk. In the case of biological hazards, this can be for example removing the risk of infections at source or isolating people from the hazards, or both.

Engineering controls include:

• enclosure, such as access-controlled rooms and biohazardous safety cabinets;
• local exhaust ventilation (LEV) systems, including high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters and fume hoods;
• mechanical ventilation, where air is exchanged and filtered through ducting systems;
• natural ventilation, resulting in a number of air changes per hour.

Administrative controls

These alter the way work is done, including the timing of work, and can be policies and other rules and work practices, such as:

• standards and operating procedures;
• training;
• housekeeping;
• infection control;
• personal hygiene practices.

Examples of administrative controls include:

• vaccination policies for specific biological hazards;
• treatment of water systems;
• health surveillance and health risk assessments;
• safe systems of work for working with biological hazards;
• awareness training on routes of transmission and appropriate precautions.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

Where controls higher up in the hierarchy of control are considered but a risk remains, PPE can be used.

PPE only provides protection to those who wear it, but not others nearby who are not directly involved in the activity. It also only provides protection when worn correctly without damage or hinderance to the person wearing it.

Examples of PPE to protect from biological hazards include:

• body protection-aprons, coveralls, gowns and scrubs;
• eye, face, and head protection, such as protective glasses, goggles, face shields, caps, hoods and hair cover;
• foot protection, such as overshoes and protective boots;
• respiratory protection, such as powered and non-powered respirators and breathing apparatus.