Occupational activities concerned by biological risks

The risks of exposure to biological agents are of interest to a wide range of professional sectors, including healthcare, work with live or dead animals, water or waste treatment, the biotechnology industry and research laboratories...

In practice, there are two main types of exposure situation: "deliberate use" and "potential exposure".

• In activities where micro-organisms are deliberately used (as in biotechnology and research laboratories), we know the precise identity of the biological agents used, the quantities used and where they are present.

• In situations of potential exposure (work in the healthcare sector, work in contact with animals, agriculture and the agri-food industries, wastewater treatment, waste disposal, etc.), we can only identify the most likely biological agents, given the activity....