INFECTIONS

Find below links to resource pages about occupational infections

Avian Influenza (bird flu)

SARS

Anthrax

Smallpox

Tuberculosis

Flu pandemic

New biological threats at work

New union resources on swine flu UNISON guide • Usdaw guide • TUC guide

News

Britain: Health staff urged to get the seasonal flu jab
Health staff should take the opportunity to get the flu jab at work, health service union UNISON has said – and it says health service employers should ensure staff are allowed the time to get vaccinated. The union is supporting a new NHS staff vaccination campaign to be launched across England.
UNISON news release • National NHS Staff Seasonal Flu Vaccination Campaign and NHS flu fighter Facebook page • BBC News Online • Risks 522
Hazards news, 10 September 2011

Britain: Union safety demands kill infections
Rates of hospital infections have been reduced dramatically where the union line on prevention has been followed, figures from the UK and USA indicate.
UNISON news release • HPA webpage on healthcare associate infections • Risks 519
Hazards news, 20 August 2011

USA: Would you like diarrhoea with that?
A study of restaurant food handling in the US has uncovered something diners might find hard to swallow - about 12 per cent of the restaurant employees interviewed said they had worked while sick with vomiting and diarrhoea. Restaurants with the heaviest workloads, serving more than 300 meals on their busiest days, were the most likely to have sick employees on duty.
Steven Sumner and others. Factors associated with food workers working while experiencing vomiting or diarrhoea, Journal of Food Protection, volume 74, number 2, pages 215-220, February 2011 [abstract] • Food Safety News • Fairwarning • Risks 493
Hazards news, 12 February 2011

Britain: Hospital guilty for worker’s Hepatitis C
A healthcare worker at a Worcestershire hospital contracted the Hepatitis C virus after injuring herself on a needle used to take blood from an infected patient. During the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust over the February 2007 incident, City Magistrates heard the worker, who had been training at the Trust for three weeks, was instructed to take blood from a patient she had not been told was infected with the virus.
HSE news release and the relevant COSHH regulation • Risks 478
Hazards news, 16 October 2010

Global: Q fever outbreaks on two continents
Outbreaks on two continents of the occupational disease Q fever have highlighted a common but underestimated risk of animal handling. Two cases have occurred in Australian laboratory workers and the Dutch government last month ordered a cull of tens of thousands of goats in a bid to stop an outbreak of the disease, which has killed 10 workers since 2007.
BBC News Online • Herald Sun • Sydney Morning Herald • Risks 438
Hazards news, 9 January 2009

Britain: Unions back social care swine flu jab
Social care organisations must ensure that all eligible staff are given access to swine flu vaccination during working hours to protect themselves, their families and those they care for, unions have said.
UNISON news release • GMB news release • TUC pandemic flu guide • Risks 438
Hazards news, 9 January 2009

Britain: Health workers urged to have swine flu jab
UNISON is urging health workers to get the swine flu vaccination and says it will give full support to the government’s swine flu vaccination programme.
UNISON news release • TUC flu pandemic guide • Risks 426
Hazards news, 4 October 2009

Britain: Workers not using swine flu excuse
The TUC has said a business study has disproved claims that workers are taking swine flu sickies. The union body was commenting after research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) found most companies in Britain have not been affected by swine flu.
The Guardian • TUC pandemic flu guide
Hazards news,  5 September 2009

Britain: Swine flu and schools (and everywhere else)
Teaching union NUT has produced commonsense advice on swine flu and schools. And TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson, commenting on the implications of swine flu for workers and employers across the board, has warned “too many employers simply were not being flexible enough and were insisting on certificates after seven days.”
NUT swine flu health and safety bulletin • Updated TUC pandemic flu guide • Risks 420
Hazards news, 22 August 2009

Britain: Government reveals swine flu priorities
The priority groups who will be first in line for vaccination against swine flu will include pregnant women, frontline health and social care workers, and everyone in at-risk groups aged over six months, health secretary Andy Burnham has said.
DH news release  • CSP news release • CSP’s information paper Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections includes a section on swine flu  • Updated TUC pandemic flu guide  • HSE updated swine flu guidance • Risks 420
Hazards news, 22 August 2009

Britain: Teachers a priority for flu jab
Teaching unions are calling for classroom staff to be a priority for the swine flu vaccine this autumn, because working with children puts them at risk. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has written to children’s secretary Ed Balls calling for school staff and pupils to be offered the jab as early as possible.
The Guardian • Risks 419
Hazards news, 15 August 2009

Britain/Global: Pandemic flu latest
The TUC guidance on pandemic flu has been updated again. Among the latest additions are advice on pregnant women, those with underlying health conditions and employers who try to get those who have been in contact with the virus to take leave.
TUC pandemic flu guide • Risks 416
Hazards news, 25 July 2009

South Africa: Health workers face TB risk
Health care workers in South Africa may be at much higher risk of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) than the general public, according to new research. A study of 3,639 patients referred between 2003 and 2007 to KwaZulu-Natal province’s King George V Hospital specialist treatment centre confirmed that poor TB infection control measures in many of South Africa's health facilities are putting health care workers at risk.
IRIN news • Risks 409
Hazards news, 6 June 2009

Global: Urgent action call on swine flu
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is calling for government action to reduce the risk at work from “swine flu”.
ITUC news release • PSI health blog • US union guidance on ‘pandemic flu’ • TUC guide • Risks 408
Hazards news, 30 May 2009

Global: Unions crucial to swine flu control
The current swine flu scare has one largely ignored group of victims – those workers in the pig industry who face both health risks and job loss. However well-informed, unionised workers in the sector are crucial to swine flu control, global farmworkers’ union federation IUF has said.  
IUF news release • WHO/FAO/OIE/WTO statement and swine flu webpages • TUC flu guide • Risks 405
Hazards news, 9 May 2009

Britain: Get ready for pandemic flu
The TUC has reminded unions that they should ensure that their employers have an action plan for dealing with any possible outbreak of pandemic flu. TUC has asked all safety representatives to ensure that their employer has an agreed action plan to deal with a possible outbreak.
HPA website • TUC guidance • Risks 404
Hazards news, 2 May 2009

USA: Laundry work infection risk probed
The US government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating several cases of laundry and housekeeping workers suspected of having become infected with HIV as a result of needlestick injuries at work. Between 1981 and 2006, the CDC documented two cases of laundry and housekeeping employees who were infected with HIV as a result of occupational exposure to blood and identified 13 more possible cases.
American Laundry News • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: 'Shabby' lab blamed for disease
An independent review of last year's foot-and-mouth outbreak has criticised the laboratory at the source of the disease as “shabby and dilapidated”. The report's author, Dr Iain Anderson, said the foot-and-mouth leak should never have escaped the government-run Pirbright complex in Surrey.
Defra news release • BBC News Online • Risks 347
Hazards news, 15 March 2008

Britain: Tragedy leads to safer needles call
Health service union UNISON is calling on NHS Employers to banish needlestick injuries (NSIs) for good, by making safer needles compulsory across the health service. The call comes in the wake of the tragic death of gifted nurse, Juliet Young, who contracted HIV from a needlestick injury while working at the Maudsley Mental Health Hospital in London.
UNISON news release • Risks 344
Hazards news, 23 February 2008

Bangladesh: Bird flu outbreak spreading
Bangladesh’s poultry industry is facing a crisis as bird flu spreads throughout the country. As of 5 February, H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks had been reported in 37 of the country’s 64 districts. Health experts at Bangladesh’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research said so far no cases of human infection had been found.
IRIN news report • Risks 342
Hazards news, 9 February 2008

Global: New biological threats at work
Workers in every type of work could be at risk from biological agents, a new report has warned. The European Risk Observatory (ERO) report, backed up by a practical factsheet, says despite existing laws covering the issue, knowledge is still limited and in many workplaces biological risks are poorly assessed and prevented.
European Agency news release and factsheet on emerging biological risks [pdf] • Expert forecast on emerging biological risks related to occupational safety and health [pdf] • Read more
Hazards news, 1 December 2007

Britain: Dirty ambulances spread deadly infections
Dirty ambulances could help the spread of MRSA and other superbugs, health service UNISON has warned. Ambulance crews report they don't get time to check the vehicles, let alone clean them, said UNISON, adding the vehicles are never deep cleaned.
UNISON news release • BBC News Online
Hazards news, 1 December 2007