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ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4298
(By Delegates Hatfield, Leach, Rose, Spencer, Kelly, Perdue and L.
Smith)
[Passed March 10, 2000; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a
new article, designated article thirty-six, relating to creating a needlestick
injury prevention program in hospitals, nursing homes, public health departments
and home health agencies, including those staffed by public employees;
requiring the proposal of rules by the director of the division of health;
making compliance with rules a condition of licensure; requirements for
facilities to use needleless systems; keeping sharps injury logs; maintaining
list of existing needleless systems; establishing a needlestick injury
prevention advisory committee; and exceptions to requirements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article thirty-six, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 36. NEEDLESTICK INJURY PREVENTION.
§16-36-1. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(a) "Director"
means the director of the division of health;
(b) "Engineering
controls" means sharps prevention technology including, but not limited
to, systems not using needles and needles with engineered sharps injury
protection;
(c) "Facility"
means every hospital licensed under the provisions of article five-b of
this chapter; every nursing home licensed under the provisions of article
five-c of this chapter; every local health department, every home health
agency certified by the office of health facility licensure and certification,
all hospitals and nursing homes operated by the state or any agency of
the state and all hospitals, nursing homes, local health departments and
home health agencies which are staffed, in whole or in part, by public
employees;
(d) "Health care
worker" means any person working in a facility;
(e) "Needleless
system" means a device that does not utilize needles for the withdrawal
of body fluids after initial venous or arterial access is established,
and administration of medication or fluids, or any other procedure involving
the potential for an exposure incident; and,
(f) "Needlestick injury"
means the parenteral introduction into the body of a health care worker,
during the performance of his or her duties, of blood or other potentially
infectious material by a hollow-bore needle or sharp instrument, including,
but not limited to, needles, lancets, scalpels, and contaminated broken
glass.
(g) "Sharps"
means hollow-bore needles or sharp instruments, including but not limited
to, needles, lancets and scalpels. [Top]
§16-36-2. Needlestick injury prevention rules.
(a) On or before the
first day of July, two thousand, the director shall, with the advice and
cooperation of the advisory committee established under this article,
propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions
of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code requiring facilities,
as a condition of licensure certification or operation, to minimize the
risk of needlestick and sharps injuries to health care workers.
In developing the rules the director shall take into consideration the
most recent guidelines of the occupational safety and health administration
that relate to prevention of needlestick and sharps injuries.
(b) The rules shall include,
but not be limited to, the following provisions:
(1) A requirement that
facilities utilize needleless systems or other engineering controls designed
to prevent needlestick or sharps injuries, except in cases where the facility
can demonstrate circumstances in which technology does not promote employee
or patient safety or interferes with a medical procedure. Those
circumstances shall be specified by the facility and shall include, but
not be limited to, circumstances where the technology is medically contraindicated
or not more effective than alternative measures used by the facility to
prevent exposure incidents: Provided, That no specific device may
be mandated;
(2) A requirement that
information concerning exposure incidents be recorded in a sharps injury
log, to be kept within the facility and reported annually to the director.
Information recorded in the log shall contain, at a minimum:
(A) The date and time
of the exposure incident;
(B) The type and brand
of sharp involved in the incident; and
(C) A description of
the exposure incident which shall at a minimum include:
(i) The job classification
of the exposed worker;
(ii) The department or
work area where the exposure incident occurred;
(iii) The procedure that
the exposed worker was performing at the time of the incident;
(iv) How the incident
occurred;
(v) The body part involved
in the exposure incident;
(vi) If the sharp had
engineered sharps injury protection, whether the protective mechanism
was activated and whether the injury occurred before the protective mechanism
was activated, during activation of the mechanism or after activation
of the mechanism, if applicable; and,
(vii) Any suggestions
by the injured employee as to whether or how protective mechanisms or
work practice control could be utilized to prevent such injuries;
(3) A provision for maintaining
a list of existing needleless systems and needles and sharps with engineered
injury protections. The director shall make the list available to
assist employers in complying with the requirements of the standards adopted
in accordance with this article; and,
(4) Any additional provisions
consistent with the purpose of this article, including, but not limited
to, training and educational requirements, measures to increase vaccinations,
strategic placement of sharps containers as close to the work area as
is practical and increased use of protective equipment. [Top]
§16-36-3. Needlestick injury prevention advisory committee.
(a) There is established
a needlestick injury prevention advisory committee to advise the director
in the development of rules required under this article.
(b) The committee shall
meet at least four times a year for the initial two years after the effective
date of this article and on the call of the director thereafter.
The director shall serve as the chair and shall appoint thirteen members,
one representing each of the following groups:
(1) A representative
of the health insurance industry;
(2) The commissioner
of the bureau of employment programs, or his or her designee from the
division of worker's compensation;
(3) Five nurses who work
primarily providing direct patient care in a hospital or nursing home,
at least one of which is employed in a state operated facility;
(4) A phlebotomist employed
in a hospital or nursing home;
(5) Two administrators
of different hospitals operating within the state;
(6) A director of nursing
employed in a nursing home within the state;
(7) A licensed physician
practicing in the state; and
(8) An administrator
of a nursing home operating within the state.
(c) Members of the committee
serve without compensation. Each member shall be reimbursed for
actual and necessary expenses incurred for each day or portion thereof
engaged in the discharge of official duties, in a manner consistent
with guidelines of the travel management office of the department of administration.
(d) A majority of all
members constitutes a quorum for the transaction of all business.
Members serve for two-year terms and may not serve for more than two consecutive
terms.
§16-36-4. Exception.
Until the first day of July,
two thousand five, drugs and biologics regulated by the food and drug
administration whose packaging, on the effective date of this article,
includes needles and syringes, are considered to meet any standards promulgated
under this article. [Top]
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