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 antineoplasticbegin delete and other hazardousend delete 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:
The Legislature finds and declares the following:
2(a) Health care personnel who work with or near hazardous
3drugs in health care settings may be exposed to these agents in the
4air, on work surfaces, clothing, and medical equipment, or through
5patient contact.
6(b) According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety
7and Health (NIOSH), early concerns about occupational exposure
8to antineoplastic drugs first appeared in the 1970s. Antineoplastic
9begin delete and other hazardousend delete drugs may cause skin rashes, infertility,
10
miscarriages, and birth defects, and have been linked to a wide
11variety of cancers.
12(c) In 2004, the NIOSH published an alert on preventing
13occupational exposures to antineoplasticbegin delete and other hazardousend delete drugs
14in health care settings, and updated that alert in 2010. In this alert,
15the NIOSH
“presents a standard precautions or universal
16precautions approach to handling hazardous drugs safely: that is,
17NIOSH recommends that all hazardous drugs be handled as
18outlined in this Alert.”
19(d) It is the intent of the Legislature to require the Occupational
20Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt standardsbegin delete that require begin insert consistent withend insert
21health care facilities to comply with all aspects ofend delete
22 the NIOSH alert regardless of the setting in order to protect health
23care personnel from hazardous exposure to these drugs.
Section 144.8 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
(a) As used in this section the following definitions
26shall apply:
27(1) “Antineoplastic drug” means a chemotherapeutic agent that
28controls or kills cancer cells.
29(2) “Hazardous drug” means any drug identified by the National
30Institute for Occupational Safety and Health at the federal Centers
P3 1for Disease Control and Prevention or any drug that meets at least
2one of the following six criteria: carcinogenicity, teratogenicity or
3developmental toxicity, reproductive toxicity in humans, organ
4toxicity at low doses in humans or animals, genotoxicity, or new
5drugs that mimic existing hazardous drugs in
structure or toxicity.
5 6(3)
end delete
7begin insert(2)end insert “NIOSH” means the National Institute for Occupational
8Safety and Health.
9(b) The board shall adopt an occupational safety and health
10standard for the handling of antineoplastic begin deleteand other hazardousend delete
11 drugs in health care facilities regardless of the setting. In
12developing the standard, the board shall consider input from
13hospitals, practicing physicians from impacted specialties,
14including oncology, organizations
representing health care
15personnel, including registered nursesbegin insert and pharmacistsend insert, and other
16stakeholders, and shall determine a reasonable time for facilities
17to implement new requirements imposed by the adopted standard.
18The standard, to the extent feasible, shall be consistent with and
19not exceed recommendations in the NIOSH 2004 alert entitled
20“Preventing Occupational Exposures to Antineoplastic and Other
21Hazardous Drugs in Health Care Settings,” as updated in 2010.
22The standard may incorporate applicable updates and changes to
23NIOSH guidelines.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
25Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
26the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
27district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
28infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
29for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
30the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
31the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
32Constitution.
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