BILL NUMBER: SB 171	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 23, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Perata

                        FEBRUARY 5, 2007

   An act to add Section 6403.5 to the Labor Code, relating to health
facilities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 171, as amended, Perata. Hospitals: lift teams.
   Existing law regulates the operation of health facilities,
including hospitals.
   Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1973, establishes certain safety and other responsibilities of
employers and employees, including the requirement that employers
provide safety devices or safeguards reasonably necessary to render
the employment safe.
   This bill would require each general acute care hospital, as
defined, to establish a patient protection and health care worker
back injury prevention plan. This bill would require each hospital to
conduct a needs assessment to identify patients needing lift teams,
and lift, repositioning, or transfer devices.
   This bill would require these hospitals to use lift teams, and
lift, repositioning, and transfer devices, and to train health care
workers on the appropriate use of lift, repositioning, and transfer
devices. This bill would require lift team members to receive
specialized training and to demonstrate proficiency in safe
techniques for lifting, repositioning, or transferring patients and
the appropriate use of lifting or transferring devices and equipment.

   This bill would provide that a health care worker who refuses to
lift a patient could be disciplined only if the worker has been
trained on appropriate patient and equipment lifting procedures and
has appropriate and functional lift, repositioning, or transfer
devices available to perform the requested lift, repositioning, or
transfer.
   This bill would become operative on July 1, 2008.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the
Hospital Patient and Health Care Worker Injury Protection Act.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) Health care workers, 95 percent of whom are women, lead the
nation in work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). In 1999, the
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) identified "health
care patient" as the source of 59,002 MSDs. In 2000, BLS data showed
that certified nurse assistants, registered nurses, and licensed
practical nurses together suffered 62,332 MSDs--17,005 more than
truck drivers, who were listed as number one with 45,327 MSDs. Health
care workers' injuries equaled 138 percent of those of truck
drivers, above "first place" for work-related MSDs.
   (b) 2006 BLS data shows California now leading the nation in the
number of MSD's suffered by its workers. California's nursing
workforce is aging at the same time patient acuity and obesity is
rising. It is imperative that we protect our registered nurses and
other health care workers from injury, and provide patients with safe
and appropriate care. At a cost of between forty thousand dollars
($40,000) and sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) to train and orient
each new nurse, preventing turnover from injuries will save hospitals
money.
  SEC. 3.  Section 6403.5 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
   6403.5.  (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms
have the following meanings:
   (1) "Lift, reposition, and transfer needs assessment" means a
system whereby patients are identified based on the potential risk of
injury to the patient or to the health care worker in the event that
the patient requires a lift, repositioning, or transfer, consistent
with the professional judgment and clinical assessment of the
registered nurse.
   (2) "Lift team" means hospital employees specially trained to
handle patient lifts, repositionings, and transfers using patient
transfer, repositioning, or lifting devices as appropriate for the
specific patient based on the individual hospital's own needs
assessment.
   (3) "Zero  lift policy"   lift/safe patient
handling policy"  is a term of art recognized internationally to
mean replacing unassisted manual lifting, repositioning, and
transferring of patients with the use of patient lift, repositioning,
or transfer devices, and lift teams. Zero  lift policy
  lift/safe patient handling policy  does not
require the use of patient lift, repositioning, or transfer devices
if the individual hospital's own needs assessment indicates that it
is safe for the patient and the employee to utilize techniques not
requiring the use of those devices.
   (b) As a part of their injury and illness prevention programs
required by this chapter, each general acute care hospital, as
defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety
Code, shall adopt a patient protection and health care worker back
and musculoskeletal injury prevention plan. The plan must include a
zero  lift policy   lift/safe patient handling
policy  component reflected in professional occupational safety
guidelines for the protection of patients and health care workers in
health care facilities.
   (c) Each general acute care hospital shall develop its own
individual lift, repositioning, and transfer needs assessment to
determine if a patient requires the use of a lift team or specialized
equipment for patient lifts, repositionings, and transfers. Patients
identified as being at risk of injury due to a lift, repositioning,
or transfer, as well as patient lifts, repositionings, or transfers
identified, using the individual hospital's own needs assessment, as
having potential for placing health care workers at risk of being
injured while lifting, repositioning, or transferring a patient shall
require a lift team or specialized equipment to lift, reposition, or
transfer the patient. For patients not at risk for injury due to a
lift, repositioning, or transfer, and patient lifts, repositionings,
or transfers identified, using the individual hospital's own needs
assessment, as having little or no potential for placing health care
workers at risk of being injured, a lift team or specialized
equipment to lift, reposition, or transfer the patient shall not be
required. Lift team members may perform other duties as assigned
during their shift.
   (d) Each general acute care hospital shall provide training to
health care workers on the appropriate use of lift, repositioning,
and transfer devices. Training for these health care workers shall
include body mechanics and the use of lift, repositioning, and
transfer devices to safely handle patients.
   (e) Lift team members shall receive specialized training and shall
demonstrate proficiency in safe techniques for lift, repositioning,
and transferring patients and the appropriate use of lift,
repositioning, or transfer devices.
   (f) Except in emergency situations or where specifically
contraindicated by a patient's condition or medical status, lift
teams shall utilize lift, repositioning, and transfer devices when
lifting, repositioning, or transferring patients.
   (g) A health care worker who refuses to lift, reposition, or
transfer a patient due to concerns about patient and worker safety
and the lack of trained lift team personnel or equipment may not,
based upon the refusal, be the subject of disciplinary action by the
hospital or any of its managers or employees.
   (h) Notwithstanding subdivision (g), a hospital, its managers, or
its employees may discipline a health care worker who refuses to
lift, reposition, or transfer a patient if the health care worker has
been trained on appropriate patient and equipment lifting procedures
and has appropriate and functional devices and equipment available
to perform the requested lift, reposition, or transfer.
  SEC. 4.  This act shall become operative on July 1, 2008.