HSE News

摘要

The HSE has issued new guidance on the containment and control of specified animal pathogens. On 1 April 2015, the HSE became the licensing authority under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order (SAPO), in addition to being responsible for inspection and enforcement. The move is part of an ongoing attempt to securing a single regulatory framework for pathogens, following recommendations made in a review carried out by Bill Callaghan, a former chair of the Health and Safety Commission (the predecessor of the HSE Board) (HSB 438 p.10). The new guidance is aimed at SAPO licence holders, users and biosafety professionals. It describes the containment and control measures and related management arrangements that must be applied when working with specified animal pathogens under the new SAPO licensing regime. The changes from the previous version issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are that: the SAPO licence conditions are now included in the guidance; licence holders must complete a risk assessment for activities involving specified animal pathogens; licence conditions are goal setting and include management arrangements to ensure the effective application and maintenance of containment and control measures; and it is no longer necessary to hold a transfer licence in order to move a specified animal pathogen between licence holders. All parties that wish to possess a specified animal pathogen must hold a licence, the conditions of which are intended to ensure that appropriate, proportionate and effective containment and control measures are applied to prevent the release or escape of specified animal pathogens into the environment. The HSE is issuing new licences to existing SAPO licence holders between April 2015 and September 2016. Until they receive a new licence, existing licence holders should operate in accordance with their current licence.