From an occupational safety and health (OSH) perspective, it has prompted questions about whether employees in various occupational groups experience different risks of infection with SARS-CoV-2. Several studies based on contrasting methodologies dealt with this issue in the first few months of the pandemic. For instance, data from the German National Cohort study (NAKO Gesundheitsstudie) were evaluated, occupation-related data held by health insurance funds were analysed, and retail businesses were surveyed to ascertain how frequently cases of SARS-CoV-2 had occurred among employees in the retail industry. Depending on the job sector, different risks of both SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalisation due to COVID-19 were observable in these investigations.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed that even employees in workplaces not covered by the Biological Agents Ordinance can be exposed to an elevated risk of infection as a result of the activities they perform.

In particular, the identification of occupational fields with levels of infection risk higher than the general life risk and the impacts of their long-term consequences are therefore to be central to the Epidemiology of Work-related Infectious Diseases Thematic Cluster. Initial projects have already been launched to investigate the rates of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and people with post-COVID symptoms in work settings. Apart from this, BAuA is currently carrying out a systematic review to survey the risks of infection with SARS-CoV-2 specific to different sectors around the world. Future research projects will look beyond the SARS-CoV-2 virus and examine other workplace-related infection risks. The aim is to identify sectors and activities that have so far lacked evidence-based recommendations on how to protect employees against pathogens.