Amended in Assembly April 17, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1202

Introduced by Assembly Member Skinner

begin insert

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Ammiano)

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February 22, 2013

An act to add Section 144.8 to the Labor Code, relating to occupational safety and health standards.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1202, as amended, Skinner. Occupational safety and health standards: hazardous drugs.

Under existing law, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the Department of Industrial Relations promulgates occupational safety and health standards for the state, including standards dealing with toxic materials and harmful physical agents. Violations of these standards and regulations is a crime.

This bill would require the board to adopt a standard for the handling of antineoplastic and other hazardous drugs, as defined, in health care facilities regardless of the setting. The bill would require the standard to be consistent with and not exceed specific recommendations adopted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for preventing occupational exposures to those drugs in health care settings. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(a) Health care personnel who work with or near hazardous
drugs in health care settings may be exposed to these agents in the
air, on work surfaces, clothing, and medical equipment, or through
patient contact.

(b)  According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and begin delete Health, end delete begin insert Health (NIOSH), end insert early concerns about occupational
exposure to antineoplastic drugs first appeared in the 1970s.
Antineoplastic and other hazardous drugs may cause skin rashes,
infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects, and have been linked
to a wide variety of cancers.

(c) In 2004, the begin delete National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health end delete begin insert NIOSH end insert published an alert on preventing occupational
exposures to antineoplastic and other hazardous drugs in health
care settings, and updated that alert in 2010. In this alert, the
begin delete National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health end delete begin insert NIOSH end insert
“presents a standard precautions or universal precautions approach
to handling hazardous drugs safely: that is, NIOSH recommends
that all hazardous drugs be handled as outlined in this Alert.”

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature to require the Occupational
Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt standards that require
health care facilities to comply with all aspects of the begin delete National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health end delete begin insert NIOSH end insert alert regardless
of the setting in order to protect health care personnel from
hazardous exposure to these drugs.

SEC. 2.  

Section 144.8 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

144.8.  

(a) As used in this section the following definitions
shall apply:

(1) “Antineoplastic drug” means a chemotherapeutic agent that
controls or kills cancer cells.

(2) “Hazardous drug” means any drug identified by the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health at the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention or any drug that meets at least
one of the following six criteria: carcinogenicity, teratogenicity or
developmental toxicity, reproductive toxicity in humans, organ
toxicity at low doses in humans or animals, genotoxicity, or new
drugs that mimic existing hazardous drugs in structure or toxicity.

(3) “NIOSH” means the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health.

(b) The board shall adopt an occupational safety and health
standard for the handling of antineoplastic and other hazardous
drugs in health care facilities regardless of the setting. In
developing the standard, the board shall consider input from
hospitals, begin insert practicing physicians from impacted specialties,
including oncology, end insert organizations representing health care
personnel begin insert , including registered nurses end insert , and other stakeholders,
and shall determine a reasonable time for facilities to implement
new requirements imposed by the adopted standard. The standard begin insert ,
to the extent feasible, end insert shall be consistent with and not exceed
recommendations in the NIOSH 2004 alert entitled “Preventing
Occupational Exposures to Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous
Drugs in Health Care Settings,” as updated in 2010. The standard
may incorporate applicable updates and changes to NIOSH
guidelines.

SEC. 3.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.