BILL NUMBER: AB 1046 CHAPTERED 10/01/01 CHAPTER 370 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 1, 2001 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2001 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JUNE 4, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 3, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 25, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Migden FEBRUARY 23, 2001 An act to add Section 105340 to the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 144.7 of the Labor Code, relating to sharps injury prevention. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1046, Migden. Sharps injury prevention. Existing law requires the Occupational Safety and Health Board to adopt specified regulations regarding bloodborne pathogens that shall include standards and practices related to sharps injury prevention technology. This bill would make clarifying changes to this provision and would require the Department of Health Services to maintain a Sharps Injury Control program that shall, among other things, maintain a continuously updated list of existing needleless systems and needles with engineered sharps injury prevention. The bill would also declare the intent of the Legislature to appropriate $300,000 to implement this act. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 105340 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 105340. The Department of Health Services shall maintain a Sharps Injury Control program that shall do all of the following: (a) Maintain a continuously updated list of existing needleless systems and needles with engineered sharps injury protection, which shall be made available to assist facilities as provided by Section 144.7 of the Labor Code. (b) Solicit voluntary submission of data by health care institutions regarding the effectiveness of needleless systems and needles with engineered sharps injury protection. (c) Provide assistance to industry and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to further compliance with occupational safety and health standards related to the use of needleless systems and needles with engineered sharps injury protection. SEC. 2. Section 144.7 of the Labor Code is amended to read: 144.7. (a) The board shall, no later than January 15, 1999, adopt an emergency regulation revising the bloodborne pathogen standard currently set forth in Section 5193 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations in accordance with subdivision (b). Following adoption of the emergency regulation, the board shall complete the regulation adoption process and shall formally adopt a regulation embodying a bloodborne pathogen standard meeting the requirements of subdivision (b), which regulation shall become operative no later than August 1, 1999. Notwithstanding Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, the emergency regulation adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall remain in effect until the nonemergency regulation becomes operative or until August 1, 1999, whichever first occurs. (b) The board shall adopt a standard, as described in subdivision (a), to be developed by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The standard shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) A revised definition of "engineering controls" that includes sharps injury prevention technology including, but not limited to, needleless systems and needles with engineered sharps injury protection, which shall be defined in the standard. (2) A requirement that sharps injury prevention technology specified in paragraph (1) be included as engineering or work practice controls, except in cases where the employer or other appropriate party can demonstrate circumstances in which the technology does not promote employee or patient safety or interferes with a medical procedure. Those circumstances shall be specified in the standard, and shall include, but not be limited to, circumstances where the technology is medically contraindicated or not more effective than alternative measures used by the employer to prevent exposure incidents. (3) A requirement that written exposure control plans include an effective procedure for identifying and selecting existing sharps injury prevention technology of the type specified in paragraph (1). (4) A requirement that written exposure control plans be updated when necessary to reflect progress in implementing the sharps injury prevention technology specified in paragraph (1). (5) A requirement that information concerning exposure incidents be recorded in a sharps injury log, including, but not limited to, the type and brand of device involved in the incident. (c) The Division of Occupational Safety and Health may consider and propose for adoption by the board additional revisions to the bloodborne pathogen standards to prevent sharps injuries or exposure incidents including, but not limited to, training requirements and measures to increase vaccinations. (d) The Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the State Department of Health Services shall jointly compile and maintain a list of existing needleless systems and needles with engineered sharps injury protection, which shall be available to assist employers in complying with the requirements of the bloodborne pathogen standard adopted pursuant to this section. The list may be developed from existing sources of information, including, but not limited to, 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. SEC. 3. It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) from the General Fund to implement this act.