Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 850

Introduced by Assembly Member Ridley-Thomas

February 26, 2015

An act to begin delete amend end delete begin insert add end insert Section begin delete 6323 of end delete begin insert 6403.2 to end insert the Labor Code, relating to employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 850, as amended, Ridley-Thomas. begin delete Safety in employment. end delete begin insert Employment: hospitals: virulent aerosol transmissible diseases. end insert

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Under existing law, the Division of Occupational Health and Safety, within the Department of Industrial Relations, investigates complaints that a workplace is unsafe and the division is authorized to issue orders necessary to ensure employee safety. Existing law permits the division to declare and prescribe what safety devices, safeguards, or other means or methods of protection are well adapted to render employees of every employment and place of employment safe. Under existing law, an employer who violates any standard, order, or special order of the division, or who violates statutory provisions of existing law, may be subject to criminal, civil, and administrative penalties, as specified.

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This bill would require an employer who employs individuals in a general acute care hospital, as defined, to, minimize the risk of occupational exposure to virulent aerosol transmissible diseases, as defined, and to provide optimal protection from occupational exposure to pathogens and aerosolized body fluids, as specified. The bill would also require these employers to, among other things, provide any health care worker who enters the room of a specified patient with personal protection equipment and a powered air purifying respirator, as specified.

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By expanding the definition of an existing crime, this bill would result in a state-mandated local program.

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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.

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

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Existing law authorizes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to seek an injunction from the superior court of local jurisdiction when any employment or place of employment, or machine, or other equipment constitutes a serious menace to the lives or safety of persons in proximity to the hazard.

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This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this provision.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

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

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 6403.2 is added to the end insert begin insert Labor Code end insert begin insert , end insert immediately following Section 6403 begin insert , to read: end insert

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begin insert 6403.2. end insert   

(a) For purposes of this section, “virulent aerosol
transmissible disease” means a disease or pathogen identified in
Appendix A of Section 5199 of Title 8 of the California Code of
Regulations for which there is no federal Food and Drug
Administration approved vaccine or medicine, such as an antiviral,
that neutralizes the transmissibility of that disease or pathogen to
health care workers, that is not preventable by vaccine, and for
which there is significant associated morbidity or mortality.

(b) An employer who employs individuals in a general acute
care hospital, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250 of the
Health and Safety Code, shall do both of the following:

(1) Minimize the risk of occupational exposure to virulent
aerosol transmissible diseases.

(2) Provide optimal protection from occupational exposure to
pathogens from direct or indirect contact with droplets or
aerosolized body fluids generated by medical procedures or human
biological processes.

(c) If a patient presents himself or herself for care with
epidemiologic risk factors or any symptoms of illness consistent
with a virulent aerosol transmissible disease, such as Ebola virus
disease, an employer described in subdivision (b) shall do all of
the following:

(1) Immediately isolate the patient in a private or separate
enclosed area with a private bathroom or covered bedside
commode.

(2) Provide any health care worker who enters the patient’s
room with personal protection equipment (PPE) that includes, at
a minimum, a full body hazmat suit that is body fluid, blood, and
virus impervious, and meets the ASTM F1670 standard for blood
penetration and the ASTM F1671 standard for viral penetration.

(3) Provide any health care worker who enters the patient’s
room with respiratory protection. This protection shall be, at a
minimum, a powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) with an
assigned protection factor of at least 50 that is worn with a full
hood that meets ASTM F1670 and ASTM F1671 standards.

(4) Ensure that the PPE and PAPR provided are fully compatible
with each other and that they leave no skin exposed or unprotected.

(d) This section shall not be construed to amend any other
occupational health standard or requirement for an employer
described in subdivision (b) under Section 5193 or 5199 of Title
8 of the California Code of Regulations, or under any other state
law.

(e) The Legislature declares that the exclusive purpose of this
section is to require optimal PPE and respiratory protection with
PAPRs for health care workers who provide care for persons under
investigation for virulent aerosol transmissible diseases and for
persons with a confirmed disease.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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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.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 6323 of the Labor Code is amended to read:

6323.  

If the condition of any employment or place of
employment or the operation of a machine, device, apparatus, or
equipment constitutes a serious menace to the lives or safety of
persons about it, the division may apply to the superior court of
the county in which the place of employment, machine, device,
apparatus, or equipment is situated, for an injunction restraining
the use or operation thereof until the condition is corrected.

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