Safety Office
Reviewed: 17 July 2012
Reviewed: DD Month
Year
Security of Pathogens and Toxins
Part 7 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which deals with the security
of pathogens and toxins, came into effect in on 31st May 2002 in response to heightened
concerns over potential terrorist threats. These regulations are overseen by the Home
Office and enforced by the Police. The purpose of the regulations is to enable checks to
be made on the physical security and access by individuals to specified more dangerous
pathogens, toxins and related genetic material.
The list of pathogens and toxins falling under the Act is known as the Schedule 5 list and
is periodically updated by the Home Office. The current list is contained within the
spreadsheet that can be accessed at the following link: ACDP & Sched 5 lists.
Premises holding stocks of any of the prescribed materials are required to be notified to
the Home Office. The Safety Office submits such notifications on behalf of the University.
The list of prescribed pathogens and toxins is attached as an appendix, which also
contains a summary of the exemptions to the regulations. The Home Office will be pass
details of notifications to the local Police Force, which may then exercise the following
powers:
1. The Police, at their request, may require submission to them of information
relating to the substances held and/or the names of people with regular access to
areas of the premises where the controlled substances are held.
2. The Police may visit to carry out security checks, following due notification by
them of their intention to do so, and must be admitted to the premises.
3. Any reasonable recommendation made by the Police as to security measures
must be complied with (there will be an appeal process in case police
recommendations are not considered reasonable).
4. If the Secretary of State directs that a named person should not be allowed
access to areas of the premises where the controlled substances are held, the
person responsible for the premises must ensure compliance. It will be an offence
to fail to comply with any of these obligations.
For the purpose of these regulations premises are generally considered to be the
smallest area that can be made secure and over which access can be effectively
controlled - in effect an individual laboratory or suite of laboratories. The larger the area
the more onerous it could be to meet the requirements for restriction of access and
supply of information concerning persons with regular access to the premises.
To enable the required notifications to be made and updated Schools holding any of the
prescribed materials are required to notify their holdings to the Safety Office who will
initiate this process annually towards the end of the year.
Future Notification of Modifications to Holdings
Schools must notify any changes in their holdings to the Safety Office - i.e.
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Where the facility ceases to hold any prescribed substances,
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
Where the facility plans to introduce any into a new location.
Where the facility plans to introduce a new listed organism into the area.
The Safety Office will then make the appropriate notification to the Home Office.
Chemical Weapons Act
By way of clarification, attention is also drawn to the parallel, but separate requirements
of the Chemical Weapons Act. This Act requires notification to the Department for Trade
and Industry of holdings of some agents that could be used as chemical weapons. There
is some overlap between the lists of specified materials, mainly in relation to toxins. The
Safety Office also co-ordinates these notifications and any licences that may need to be
obtained. Further details are available via the Safety Office Workspace at:
https://workspace.nottingham.ac.uk/display/safety/Chemicals.