Table 3.

The path of legislation.

Report	Year	Content
Rosenheim Report	1972	Review of precautions to be taken in renal dialysis units. Review of precautions to be taken in laboratories.
Maycock Report	1973	Updated advice given in 1972. Further updated in 2002 to cover hepatitis C and HIV.
Safety in Pathology Laboratories	1972-1974	Booklet produced by a working party chaired by JF Heggie giving safety advice. Further developed by CH Collins into the PHLS Monograph No 6 entitled The Prevention of Laboratory Acquired Infection in 1974
Godber Report	1974	Safety advice for handling Category A (now category 4) pathogens and their classification. Reclassified other pathogens into B and C (now 1, 2, and 3). Prompted by outbreaks of Marburg disease and Lassa fever, it recommended the establishment of the Dangerous Pathogens Advisory Group (DPAG). DPAG publishes a Code of Practice for handling samples containing Category A pathogens.
Health and Safety at Work Act	1974	Forms the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Protection under the Act is extended to laboratory workers in 1976. Introduction of safety representatives who had to be members of a trades union.
Howie Report and Code of Practice	1978	Categorises pathogens into categories 1, 2, 3 and 4. Deals with samples containing hepatitis B virus. Defines duties of the safety officer. Advice on laboratory design, microbiological hazards, notification of laboratory-acquired infections, safety committees and the planning, building and equipping of laboratories.
Shooter Report	1980	Followed the Birmingham smallpox incident in 1978. Recommended the formation of the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP). ACDP has to issue regular updates and advice on newly discovered pathogens and new information on existing pathogens.