Risk Assessment

1
Risk Assessment

• Bruce J. Brown, MPH, CHMM, ARM
• Director, Environmental Health Safety
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at
  Houston
• Bruce.J.Brown_at_uth.tmc.edu

2
Risk

• Risk implies the probability that harm, injury,
  or disease will occur. CDC/NIH BMBL
• Pure Risk
• Speculative Risk

3
Biosafety Level

• Facilities
• Equipment
• Practices

4
Risk Groups

• RG 1
• RG 2
• RG 3
• RG 4

5
Risk Assessment Considerations

• Pathogenicity
• Virulence
• Route of transmission
• Host range
• Agent concentration / quantity
• Infectious dose
• Aerosol producing procedures
• Use of sharps

6
System Construct

• Vector
• Source
• Promoter
• Resistance
• Replication deficient
• Attenuation
• Gene(s)
• Source
• Function
• Toxin
• Oncogene

7
IBC Expertise

• the greatest challenge is to evaluate the
  potential increased biohazard associated with a
  particular genetic modification. CDC/NIH BMBL