Bill Text: PA HB158 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requiring the Department of Health to establish bloodborne pathogen standards for emergency services personnel and public employees; establishing the Bloodborne Pathogen Fund; and repealing an act relating to bloodborne pathogen standards.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-5)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-01-30 - Referred to HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES [HB158 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-HB158-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 154
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 158 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY SOLOBAY, BELFANTI, BEYER, BRENNAN, CALTAGIRONE, CARROLL, CREIGHTON, FRANKEL, GRUCELA, MAHONEY, MANN, McILVAINE SMITH, MELIO, M. O'BRIEN, READSHAW, SIPTROTH, STABACK AND VULAKOVICH, JANUARY 30, 2009
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, JANUARY 30, 2009
AN ACT
Requiring the Department of Health to establish bloodborne
pathogen standards for emergency services personnel and
public employees; establishing the Bloodborne Pathogen Fund;
and repealing an act relating to bloodborne pathogen
standards.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Bloodborne
Pathogen Standard Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Bloodborne pathogen." A pathogenic microorganism which is
present in human blood and can cause disease in humans. The term
includes hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
"Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.
"Emergency medical services." The services utilized in
responding to the needs of an individual for immediate medical
care in order to prevent loss of life or the aggravation of
physiological or psychological illness or injury.
"Emergency services personnel." A person, including a
trained volunteer or a member of the armed forces of the United
States or the National Guard, whose official or assigned
responsibilities include performing or directly supporting the
performance of emergency medical or rescue services or
firefighting.
"Employer." An employer having emergency services personnel
or public employees with occupational exposure to blood or other
material potentially containing a bloodborne pathogen.
"Engineered sharps injury protection." Any of the following:
(1) A physical attribute built into a needle device used
for withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or artery or
administering medications or other fluids, which effectively
reduces the risk of an exposure incident by a mechanism such
as barrier creation, blunting, encapsulation, withdrawal,
retraction, destruction or other effective mechanisms.
(2) A physical attribute built into any other type of
needle device or into a nonneedle sharp which effectively
reduces the risk of an exposure incident.
"Front-line health care worker." A nonmanagerial employee
responsible for direct patient care with potential occupational
exposure to a sharps injury.
"Fund." The Bloodborne Pathogen Fund established in section
6.
"Needleless system." A device which does not utilize needles
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for:
(1) the withdrawal of body fluids after initial venous
or arterial access is established;
(2) the administration of medication or fluids; or
(3) any other procedure involving the potential for an
exposure incident.
"Public employee." An employee of the Commonwealth or a
political subdivision employed in a health care facility, home
health care organization or other facility providing health
care-related services:
(1) whose activities involve contact with a patient or
with blood or other body fluid from a patient in a health
care or laboratory setting; or
(2) who is responsible for direct patient care with
potential occupational exposure to a sharps injury.
The term does not include a licensed individual who provides
only intraoral care.
"Rescue." The act of extricating persons from entrapment or
dangerous situations which pose the imminent threat of death or
serious bodily injury.
"Sharp." An object used or encountered in a health care
setting which can be reasonably anticipated to penetrate the
skin or any other part of the body and to result in an exposure
incident. The term includes a needle device, scalpel or lancet;
broken glass; or a broken capillary tube.
"Sharps injury." An injury caused by a sharp and resulting
in exposure to body fluid. The term includes any cut, abrasion
or needlestick.
"Sharps injury log." A written or electronic record of
sharps injuries.
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Section 3. Department.
(a) Adoption of standard.--Within six months of the
effective date of this act, the department shall promulgate
regulations adopting a bloodborne pathogen standard governing
emergency services personnel and public employees. The standard
shall be at least as prescriptive as the standard promulgated by
the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and
shall include the following:
(1) A requirement that needleless systems and sharps
with engineered sharps injury protection be included as
engineering and work practice controls. Engineering controls
under this paragraph shall not be required if:
(i) none is available in the marketplace; or
(ii) an evaluation committee, as described in
paragraph (3)(iii)(C)(X), determines by means of
objective product evaluation criteria that use of such
devices will jeopardize patient or employee safety with
regard to a specific medical procedure.
(2) A requirement that each emergency service personnel
and public employee receive education on the use of an
engineering control before a control is introduced into the
clinical setting.
(3) A requirement that each employer develop and
implement an effective written exposure control plan which
includes procedures for all of the following:
(i) Identifying and selecting needleless systems and
sharps with engineered sharps injury protection through
the evaluation committee described in subparagraph (iii)
(C)(X).
(ii) Updating the written exposure control plan when
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necessary, but at least once each year, to reflect
progress in implementing needleless systems and sharps
with engineered sharps injury protection as determined by
the evaluation committee under subparagraph (iii)(C)(X).
(iii) Recording information concerning exposure
incidents in a sharps injury log. This subparagraph
includes:
(A) Date and time of the exposure incident.
(B) Type and brand of sharp involved in the
exposure incident.
(C) Description of the exposure incident. This
clause includes:
(I) Job classification of the exposed
emergency services personnel or public employee.
(II) Department or work area where the
exposure incident occurred.
(III) Procedure which the exposed emergency
services personnel or public employee was
performing at the time of the incident.
(IV) How the incident occurred.
(V) Body part involved in the exposure
incident.
(VI) If the sharp had engineered sharps
injury protection, whether the protective
mechanism was activated and whether the injury
occurred before the protective mechanism was
activated, during activation of the mechanism or
after activation of the mechanism.
(VII) If the sharp had no engineered sharps
injury protection, whether and how such a
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mechanism could have prevented the injury. This
subclause requires statement of the basis for the
assessment.
(VIII) An assessment of whether any other
engineering, administrative or work practice
control could have prevented the injury. This
subclause requires statement of the basis for the
assessment.
(IX) Ensuring that all front-line health
care workers are trained on the use of all
engineering controls before they are introduced
into the clinical setting.
(X) Establishing an evaluation committee, at
least half the members of which are public front-
line health care workers from a variety of
occupational classifications and departments,
including nurses, nurse aides, technicians,
phlebotomists and physicians, to advise the
employer on the implementation of the
requirements of the regulations. Members of the
committee shall be trained in the proper method
of utilizing product evaluation criteria prior to
the commencement of product evaluation.
(b) Additional measures.--The department shall consider
additional measures to prevent sharps injuries or exposure
incidents. This subsection includes training and educational
requirements, increased use of vaccinations, strategic placement
of sharps containers as close to the work area as practical and
increased use of personal protective equipment.
(c) Regulations.--The department may promulgate regulations
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to implement this act.
(d) Transitional period for certain drugs and biologics.--
The use of a drug or biologic which is prepackaged with an
administration system or used in a prefilled syringe and is
approved for commercial distribution or investigational use by
the Federal Food and Drug Administration is exempt for a
standard adopted under subsection (a) or additional measures
adopted under subsection (b) for a period of three years from
the effective date of this act.
(e) Compilation and maintenance of list.--The department
shall compile and maintain a list of needleless systems and
sharps with engineered sharps injury protection. The list shall
be available to assist employers in complying with the
requirements of the regulations promulgated under this section.
The list may be developed from existing sources of information,
including the Federal Food and Drug Administration, the Federal
Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health and the United States Department
of Veterans Affairs.
Section 4. Employers.
(a) Complaints.--Each employer shall develop and implement
compliance monitoring procedures and a complaint process.
(b) Review.--Each employer shall provide its emergency
service personnel and public employees an opportunity to
evaluate engineered sharps injury prevention devices and
needleless systems in an accident and illness prevention
program.
Section 5. Applicability to contractors.
Nothing in this act shall prohibit an employer from applying
the principles of this act to a contractor.
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Section 6. Fund.
(a) Establishment.--The Bloodborne Pathogen Fund is
established in the State Treasury.
(b) Purposes.--The department shall utilize the fund to do
all of the following:
(1) Implement this act.
(2) In needleless systems and sharps with engineered
sharps injury protection, provide for research, development
and product evaluation.
(c) Source.--The source of the fund is appropriations.
(d) Continuous appropriation.--The money in the fund is
continuously appropriated to the fund. This appropriation shall
not lapse at the end of any fiscal year.
Section 7. Repeal.
(a) Intent.--The General Assembly declares that the repeal
under subsection (b) is necessary to effectuate the provisions
of this act.
(b) Provision.--The act of December 13, 2001 (P.L.873, No.
96), known as the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard Act, is repealed.
Section 8. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 120 days.
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