| (1) |
A self-employed person must ensure that the risk of exposure of persons to HBAs is reduced through biological containment and where this is not reasonably practicable, control the exposure to as low as possible. |
| (2) |
An employer must ensure that the risk of exposure of persons to HBAs is reduced through biological containment and medical fitness restrictions in the workplace or, where this is not reasonably practicable, control the exposure to as low as possible. |
| (3) |
The employer or self-employed person must ensure that the standard precautions are implemented to reduce the risk of transmission of HBAs in a workplace, which may include— |
| (c) |
face or eye protection; |
| (e) |
respiratory protective equipment; and |
| (f) |
other relevant process safety equipment. |
| (4) |
Where reasonably practicable, the employer or self-employed person must control the exposure to an HBA in the workplace by— |
| (a) |
implementing measurers identified in the documented risk assessment; |
| (b) |
limiting the amount of HBAs used which might contaminate the workplace to the minimum quantity required for the task; |
| (c) |
limiting the number of employees; |
| (d) |
limiting the duration of exposure of employees; |
| (e) |
introducing measures for the control of exposure, which must include any combination of the following contamination control measures: |
| (i) |
Separation of different infectious processes from each other and from persons; |
| (ii) |
barrier isolation of a process or agent; |
| (iii) |
local exhaust ventilation; |
| (iv) |
general ventilation; |
| (v) |
air and surface disinfection; |
| (vi) |
positive static air pressure differential from infectious process to human occupied zones; |
[Regulation 10(4)(e)(vi) substituted by Notice No. R. 2693 of GG47413, dated 31 October 2022]
| (vii) |
suppression of emissions of an airborne HBA; |
| (viii) |
access control to prevent unauthorised access; and |
| (ix) |
immediately accessible emergency personal or environmental disinfection; |
| (f) |
introducing appropriate work procedures that employees must follow where HBAs are handled, used and processed that could give rise to the exposure of an employee to HBAs, and such procedures must include documented instructions to ensure— |
| (i) |
the safe handling,use and disposal of HBAs; |
| (ii) |
the proper use and maintenance of machinery, installations, equipment, tools and local exhaust and general ventilation systems; |
| (iii) |
the regular cleaning of machinery and work areas with vacuum cleaners fitted with air filters with an arrestance of not less than 99,95%; |
| (iv) |
a system is in place that identifies the need for early corrective action from changes to work procedures and practices; and |
| (v) |
the decontamination and disinfection of the affected workplace; |
| (g) |
making available effective vaccines for those employees who are not immune to the biological agent to which they are exposed or are liable to be exposed; |
| (h) |
specifying procedures for taking, handling and processing samples that might contain HBAs; and |
| (i) |
displaying the biohazard sign as depicted in Annexure B and other relevant information. |
Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965
