SARS-CoV-2 and the Risk Assessment Document in Italian Work; Specific or Generic Risk Even If Aggravated?

Luigi Cirrincione, Venerando Rapisarda, Walter Mazzucco, Rosanna Provenzano and Emanuele Cannizzaro
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Luigi Cirrincione: Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Child Health, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties “Giuseppe D’Alessandro”, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Venerando Rapisarda: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Occupational Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Walter Mazzucco: Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Child Health, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties “Giuseppe D’Alessandro”, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Rosanna Provenzano: Department of Juvenile and Community Justice, 93100 Caltanissetta, Italy
Emanuele Cannizzaro: Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Child Health, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties “Giuseppe D’Alessandro”, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-10

Abstract: In December 2019, several cases of atypical pneumonia were detected in Wuhan city, Hubei province, inland China. The initial outbreak was of considerable size first in China subsequently spread to the rest of the world. Immediately after the epidemic (which according to the World Health Organization had risen to pandemic status), the problem of whether or not to update the occupational risk assessment arose, also considering how the biological risk from SARS CoV-2 should be understood: specific or generic. To this end, we conducted a literature review to identify national health legislation and policies, examining how Italy has addressed the COVID-19 emergency in occupational health planning, in order to develop considerations on the need to update the Risk Assessment Document following the pandemic status. The data that emerged from the review of current legislation allowed us to conclude that the risk from SARS-CoV-2 is in most work activities to be understood as a generic or aggravated generic risk, requiring the employer to apply and control the preventive measures suggested by health authorities to contain the spread of the virus.

Keywords: COVID-19; risk assessment document; SARS-CoV-2; occupational medicine; decree 81/2008; work; law; prevention and protection measures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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