Activities with an assigned protection level

All activities involving the handling of biological agents in laboratories, laboratory animal husbandry facilities, biotechnology, and healthcare facilities have to be classified with a protection level. They are therefore referred to as “protection level activities”. When protection level activities are performed, the biological agents that are present or utilised are usually known or can at least be determined with sufficient accuracy. Such activities can be described as either targeted or non-targeted.

In the case of targeted activities, the protection level classification depends on the risk group of the biological agent that is identified. If employees carry out activities involving several biological agents, the protection level classification is determined by the biological agent in the highest risk group. When non-targeted activities are performed, the protection level classification depends on the risk group of the biological agent that, on account of the

• probability of its occurrence
• type of activity
• type, duration, intensity, and frequency of the identified exposure,

determines how great the risk of infection is for employees.

Activities without an assigned protection level

Activities that do not take place in laboratories, laboratory animal husbandry facilities, biotechnology, or healthcare facilities are not assigned to a protection level. They are therefore referred to as “non-protection level activities”. These include, for example, cleaning and refurbishment works, and activities undertaken in veterinary medicine, agriculture, forestry, the waste water and waste management industries, biogas plants, and abattoirs.

It is often difficult to obtain all the necessary information for the risk assessment of activities not assigned to a protection level. This is both because the range of biological agents encountered is subject to variations and because it is possible for the type, duration, intensity, and frequency of the exposures to change. The following resources may be helpful:

• the publications of the Committee on Biological Agents (Ausschuss für Biologische Arbeitsstoffe, ABAS)
• experience of comparable activities
• other established findings