Biosafety and Bioethics

Occupational Health
Program
 Occupational Health Program

• Occupational health is a professional medical program

that is an assigned responder to the work related
incidents

• It is an administrative role and employer responsibility

in risk management
Goals of Occupational Health Program

• Fit for duty requirements

• Initial and Annual screening of laboratory Staff
• Treatment, Monitoring and Support of exposed Laboratory Staff
It’s a general Program to ensure the overall community starts healthy and
remains healthy throughout the working process
 Medical and Incident Surveillance
Program
Medical Surveillance identifies when laboratory staff experience
symptoms which match the clinical presentation of agents they are
working with or around in a laboratory environment.

Medical Surveillance Programs are specific

programs to ensure the individual
(laboratory staff) is not experiencing illness
as a result of the work they are doing in the
laboratory.
Goals of Medical Surveillance Program

• Identify when staff experience a specific set of symptoms

• Record and Identify if a trend occurs

• Investigate trends to rule out common source exposures within

laboratory environments
Medical Surveillance Program

• Knowledge of agents in laboratory

• Knowledge of clinical presentation of symptoms matching agents in
laboratory
• Expectation of staff to report symptoms to laboratory director
• Continued monitoring of individual staff health
• Early detection of potential containment problems could prevent
others from getting sick and even save lives
 Incident, Accident, Near Miss
Accident as a type
of Incident

Incident
A work related event in which an injury,
illness or ill health or fatality occurred
or could have occurred

Accident Near miss

Incident in which an injury or illness An incident where no injury or
actually occurs illness occurs

We may not know if someone has truly been exposed for several days. That distinction is the
difference between an incident and accident. Incident surveillance captures accidents,
Incidents, and near misses to monitor and prevent them from being repeated.
Goals of Incident Surveillance Program

• Identify when staff experience and incident, accident or near miss

• Record, monitor, and properly classify the event.
• Investigate WHAT from the overall equation
• Recommend changes which would prevent the event from happening.
Incident Surveillance Program

Incident surveillance program ensures

incidents are identified and solutions are
implemented to minimize repeat events. Early
detection of incidents allow for adequate
monitoring of staff-as healthy may be
determining factor between a near miss and
true laboratory exposure
Measuring Biosafety Program Effectiveness

Is successful biosafety the absence of laboratory

incidents and accidents?
Evaluating Biosafety
Biosafety Programs are evaluated by determining the gap
between what is expected, what is currently being done, and
what has actually been done
This can be evaluated through
Direct Observation
Staff interviews
Laboratory audits
Review of Program files
Laboratory Videos
Drills
Egress and evacuation
Use of personal protective equipment
 Recognition of threats/hazards
Activation of the emergency response system
Incident command
Their specific functional role in an emergency
Perform Record Reviews
Biosafety programs require substantial record keeping and
documentation.
Review the following record:
1. Biosafety cabinet certification
2. Mechanical device record
3. Incident Reports
4. Medical surveillance reports
5. Waste management reports
6. Entry/Exit Logs
7. Inventory records
8. Training records
9. Freezer records
10. PPE inventory
How to Run a Surveillance Operation