The Development of a COVID-19 Control Measures Risk Matrix for Occupational Hygiene Protective Measures

Abstract

The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) Covid-19 Working Group developed a control banding matrix to provide guidance for employers and others to help assess the risks of Covid-19 infection during the pandemic. The matrix was based on occupational hygiene principles and the judgement of the occupational health practitioners involved; since objective data on workers’ exposure were unavailable. Users of the matrix identify one of five exposure categories based on generic job descriptions and example occupations, and these categories are linked to generic guidance on interventions at source, on the exposure pathway and for individual workers. The risk matrix was published on the BOHS website and the guidance has been downloaded more than 2000 times. The matrix has had limited evaluation for reliability, but the data suggest that the highest exposure ranked jobs were associated with higher age-standardized mortality in Britain during the pandemic. However, there was considerable variability in exposure assignments between assessors, which underlines the need for the control guidance to be precautionary. The BOHS calls on academic researchers to undertake further work to validate the reliability of the tool.

Mat-O-Covid: Validation of a SARS-CoV-2 Job Exposure Matrix (JEM) Using Data from a National Compensation System for Occupational COVID-19

“…However, most large studies do not have specific questions on work, and the JEM would be more accurate when considering asymptomatic cases and estimation of COVID-19, with a lower misclassification bias, very similar to a chemical JEM [14]. An English working group developed a control banding matrix to help employers assess the risks of COVID-19 infection during the pandemic [15], and researchers from Denmark, Netherlands and United Kingdom also developed a JEM defining relevant exposure and workplace characteristics related to exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 [16]. Differences in country and design would be interesting to compare in future studies.…”

Mat-O-Covid: Validation of a SARS-CoV-2 Job Exposure Matrix (JEM) Using Data from a National Compensation System for Occupational Covid-19

“…[13] However, most large studies don't have specific questions on work, and the JEM would be more accurate when considering asymptomatic cases and estimation of COVID-19, with a lower misclassification bias similar to a chemical JEM. [14] An English working Group developed a control banding matrix to help employers assess the risks of COVID-19 infection during the pandemic, [15] and researchers from Denmark, Netherlands and United Kingdom also developed a JEM defining relevant exposure and workplace characteristics related to exposure to the SARS-CoV2. [16] Differences in country and design would be interesting to compare in future studies.…”

Modelling the Influence of Driving Safety Aids on the Incidence of Traffic Accidents

“…Primer takšne tabele tveganja je matrika, ki združuje lastnosti rastlin in lastnosti različnih herbicidov in tako ocenjuje tveganje za odpornost na herbicid (Moss et al, 2019). Podobno so kriterije matrike tveganja prilagodili pri oceni tveganja za okužbo s Covidom na delovnem mestu, da ocenjuje verjetnost za prenos glede na naravo kontakta in čas kontakta v delovnem dnevu (Williams et al, 2021).…”