1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to occupational health and safety; 
  1.3             establishing standards for employer activities to 
  1.4             reduce occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens 
  1.5             through sharps injuries; proposing coding for new law 
  1.6             in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 182. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [182.6555] [REDUCING OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES TO 
  1.9   BLOODBORNE PATHOGENS THROUGH SHARPS INJURIES.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this 
  1.11  section, the following terms have the meanings given to them. 
  1.12     (a) "Bloodborne pathogens" means pathogenic microorganisms 
  1.13  that are present in human blood and can cause disease in 
  1.14  humans.  These microorganisms include, but are not limited to, 
  1.15  hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human 
  1.16  immunodeficiency virus (HIV). 
  1.17     (b) "Employer" means any employer having an employee with 
  1.18  occupational exposure to blood or other material potentially 
  1.19  containing bloodborne pathogens. 
  1.20     (c) "Engineering controls" means controls, such as 
  1.21  needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps injury 
  1.22  protection, that isolate or remove the bloodborne pathogens 
  1.23  hazard from the workplace. 
  1.24     (d) "Engineered sharps injury protection" means: 
  1.25     (1) a physical attribute built into a needle device used 
  1.26  for withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or artery, or 
  2.1   administering medications or other fluids, that effectively 
  2.2   reduces the risk of an exposure incident by a mechanism such as 
  2.3   barrier creation, blunting, encapsulation, withdrawal, 
  2.4   retraction, destruction, or other effective mechanisms; or 
  2.5      (2) a physical attribute built into any other type of 
  2.6   needle device or into any sharp that does not contain a needle, 
  2.7   which effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident. 
  2.8      (e) "Needleless system" means a device that does not 
  2.9   utilize one or more needles to withdraw body fluids after 
  2.10  initial venous or arterial access is established, to administer 
  2.11  medications or fluids, or for any other procedure involving the 
  2.12  potential for an exposure incident. 
  2.13     (f) "Occupational exposure" means reasonably anticipated 
  2.14  skin, eye, mucous membrane, or parenteral contact with blood or 
  2.15  other material potentially containing bloodborne pathogens that 
  2.16  may result from the performance of an employee's duties. 
  2.17     (g) "Sharp" means any object used or encountered in a 
  2.18  health care setting that can be reasonably anticipated to 
  2.19  penetrate the skin or any other part of the body and result in 
  2.20  an exposure incident.  Sharps include, but are not limited to, 
  2.21  needle devices, scalpels, lancets, broken glass, broken 
  2.22  capillary tubes, exposed ends of dental wires and dental knives, 
  2.23  drills, and burrs. 
  2.24     (h) "Sharps injury" means any injury caused by a sharp, 
  2.25  including, but not limited to, a cut, abrasion, or needle stick. 
  2.26     (i) "Sharps injury log" means a written or electronic 
  2.27  record satisfying the requirements of subdivision 3, paragraph 
  2.28  (d). 
  2.29     Subd. 2.  [SELECTING AND EVALUATING PRODUCTS REQUIRED.] (a) 
  2.30  Written exposure control plans prepared by employers must 
  2.31  include effective procedures for identifying and selecting 
  2.32  existing needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps 
  2.33  injury protection for use in the employer's facility, for 
  2.34  continuously evaluating the needleless systems and sharps with 
  2.35  engineered sharps injury protection in use at the facility, and 
  2.36  for using the best safe devices available.  The procedures 
  3.1   adopted by the employer must provide that an evaluation 
  3.2   committee established by the employer according to subdivision 
  3.3   3, paragraph (b), is responsible for identifying, selecting, and 
  3.4   continuously evaluating the devices.  An employer must implement 
  3.5   use of the best safe devices available regardless of whether 
  3.6   such devices are available for purchase through any group 
  3.7   purchasing organization with which the employer contracts. 
  3.8      (b) Each employer is required to conduct product 
  3.9   evaluations of needleless systems and sharps with engineered 
  3.10  sharps injury protections.  Product evaluations must be 
  3.11  conducted for, but are not limited to, the following categories 
  3.12  of devices, to the extent that these categories of devices are 
  3.13  used in the employer's facility: 
  3.14     (1) intravenous catheters; 
  3.15     (2) intravenous access devices and intravenous connectors; 
  3.16     (3) vacuum-tube blood collection devices; 
  3.17     (4) devices used for drawing blood, such as phlebotomy 
  3.18  needles and tube holders, butterfly-type devices, and syringes; 
  3.19     (5) syringes used for purposes other than drawing blood; 
  3.20     (6) suture needles; 
  3.21     (7) scalpel devices; and 
  3.22     (8) any other category of device used at the employer's 
  3.23  facility that poses a risk of a sharps injury. 
  3.24  For each category of device, the product evaluation process must 
  3.25  include representatives of job classifications of health care 
  3.26  providers and other employees that use or may reasonably 
  3.27  anticipate encountering any device in the category being 
  3.28  evaluated, in the performance of the employee's duties.  A 
  3.29  product evaluation period must last for at least six months. 
  3.30     Subd. 3.  [STANDARDS FOR EMPLOYERS; EXPOSURE CONTROL PLAN; 
  3.31  SHARPS INJURY LOG.] (a) Employers must comply with the 
  3.32  requirements in paragraphs (b) to (d) to eliminate or minimize 
  3.33  employee exposure to bloodborne pathogens through sharps 
  3.34  injuries.  
  3.35     (b) Needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps 
  3.36  injury protection must be included as engineering controls and 
  4.1   work practice controls, except in cases where an evaluation 
  4.2   committee established by an employer determines, using objective 
  4.3   product evaluation criteria, that the use of such devices will 
  4.4   jeopardize patient or employee safety with regard to a specific 
  4.5   medical procedure.  At least one-half of the members of the 
  4.6   evaluation committee must be representatives of job 
  4.7   classifications of health care providers and other employees 
  4.8   that would use or may reasonably anticipate encountering any 
  4.9   device in the category being evaluated, in the performance of 
  4.10  the employee's duties. 
  4.11     (c) Written exposure control plans prepared by employers 
  4.12  must be updated as necessary and no less frequently than every 
  4.13  12 months to reflect the facility's progress, as determined by 
  4.14  an evaluation committee established by the employer according to 
  4.15  paragraph (b), in implementing needleless systems and sharps 
  4.16  with engineered sharps injury protection. 
  4.17     (d) Employers must establish procedures to record 
  4.18  information concerning exposure incidents in a sharps injury 
  4.19  log.  Information to be recorded in the log must include, but is 
  4.20  not limited to, the following: 
  4.21     (1) the date and time of the exposure incident; 
  4.22     (2) the type and brand of sharp involved in the exposure 
  4.23  incident; and 
  4.24     (3) a description of the exposure incident, including the 
  4.25  job classification of the exposed employee; the department or 
  4.26  work area where the exposure incident occurred; the procedure 
  4.27  the exposed employee was performing when the exposure incident 
  4.28  occurred; how the incident occurred; the body part involved in 
  4.29  the exposure incident; if the sharp had engineered sharps injury 
  4.30  protection, whether the protective mechanism was activated and 
  4.31  whether the injury occurred before, during, or after activation 
  4.32  of the protective mechanism if applicable; if the sharp had no 
  4.33  engineered sharps injury protection, the injured employee's 
  4.34  opinion as to whether and how a protective mechanism could have 
  4.35  prevented the injury and the basis for that opinion; and the 
  4.36  injured employee's opinion about whether any other engineering, 
  5.1   administrative, or work practice control could have prevented 
  5.2   the injury and the basis for that opinion.