HCS HB 635 -- EXPOSURE CONTROL FOR BLOOD-BORNE PATHOGENS

SPONSOR:  Barry

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Children,
Families and Health by a vote of 15 to 0.

This substitute requires the Department of Health to adopt a
blood-borne pathogen standard governing the occupational
exposure of public employees to blood and other potentially
infectious materials.  The substitute:

(1)  Requires the department to develop a standard that meets
the standard developed by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA).  The standard must be adopted no later
than February of 2002.  The standard must include a requirement
that the most effective available needleless system and sharps
with engineered sharps injury protection be included as
engineered and work practice controls.  In certain
circumstances, engineering controls are not required;

(2)  Defines the terms "public employee," "employer," and
"frontline health care worker";

(3)  Exempts the use of a drug or biologic that is pre-packaged
or used in a pre-filled syringe from the blood-borne pathogen
standard.  This exemption expires on June 1, 2004;

(4)  Specifies the requirements for the sharps injury log;

(5)  Requires the establishment of an evaluation committee and
specifies the members, qualifications, and duties of the
committee;

(6)  Requires the department to compile and maintain a list of
needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps injury
protection;

(7)  Requires the department to issue an annual report on the
use of needle safety technology to the Governor, State Auditor,
President Pro Tem of the Senate, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, and the Technical Advisory Committee on the
Quality of Patient Care and Nursing Practices by February 1 of
each year.  The report will be available to the public on the
department's web site by February 15 of each year;

(8)  Requires persons to report a suspected violation; and

(9)  Subjects an employer to a reduction or loss in state
funding for violating provisions of the substitute.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Net Cost to General Revenue Fund of
$69,019 in FY 2002, $79,466 in FY 2003, and $81,505 in FY 2004.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that health care workers and other
personnel are becoming increasingly exposed to infectious
diseases.  It is estimated that Missouri health care workers and
other personnel experience at least 12,000 job-related
needlestick injuries per year.  Testing workers for infectious
diseases such as hepatitis B and C and HIV is expensive and
treating workers who contract an infectious disease is
expensive.  Since Missouri is a "federal OSHA" state, public
health care workers are not covered by the OSHA Blood-borne
Pathogen Standard.  The bill will establish standards in
Missouri and consistency with the federal OSHA standard, thus
increasing the safety and protection of public health care
workers in Missouri.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Barry; Service
Employees International Union; Missouri Nurses Association;
Missouri AFL-CIO; United Health Care Workers of Greater St.
Louis; Mary Beth Tinker, Nurse Practitioner; and Julia Hipps,
R.N.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that the bill's
standards are not equal to the federal OSHA standard and in some
instances, exceed the federal OSHA standard.  To establish
consistency between the proposed language and the federal OSHA
standard, the bill should adopt "by reference" the federal OSHA
standards.  (The substitute does that.)

Testifying against the bill was Missouri Hospital Association.

Joseph Deering, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated November 26, 2001 at 11:45 am