00 SENATE BILL NO. 261 01 "An Act relating to needle stick and sharps injury protections and the use of 02 safe needles by health care facilities and health care professionals; and providing 03 for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 18.60 is amended by adding new sections to read: 06 Article 13. Health Care Protections. 07 Sec. 18.60.880. Needle stick and sharps injury protections for health care 08 workers. (a) An employer shall conduct product evaluations of needleless systems 09 and sharps with engineered sharps injury protections that are used in the employer's 10 facilities. For each category of device, the product evaluations shall be conducted by 11 front-line health care workers representing all wards and medical specialties where the 12 devices are used. The product evaluation period must last at least six months. The 13 categories of devices to be evaluated under this subsection include 14 (1) IV catheters; 01 (2) IV access devices and IV connectors; 02 (3) vacuum-tube blood collection devices; 03 (4) blood-drawing devices including phlebotomy needle and tube 04 holders, butterfly-type devices, and syringes and other similar devices; 05 (5) syringes used for purposes other than blood drawing; 06 (6) suture needles; 07 (7) scalpel devices; and 08 (8) any other category of device used at the employer's facility where 09 there is a sharps injury risk. 10 (b) The department shall, by regulation, adopt a standard concerning the use 11 of needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps injury protections for devices 12 listed in (a) of this section. The regulations must provide that 13 (1) needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps injury 14 protections must be included as engineering and work practice controls; however, the 15 engineering control is not required if an evaluation committee established by the 16 employer, at least half the members of which are front-line health care workers, 17 determines by means of objective product evaluation criteria that use of the devices 18 will jeopardize patient or employee safety with regard to a specific medical procedure; 19 (2) a written exposure control plan include an effective procedure for 20 identifying and selecting existing needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps 21 injury protections; the procedure must provide that a product evaluation committee 22 described in (a) of this section has responsibility for identifying and selecting the 23 devices; 24 (3) written exposure control plans shall be updated when necessary to 25 reflect progress in implementing needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps 26 injury protections as determined by the evaluation committee described in (a) of this 27 section; updating must occur at least once every year; 28 (4) information concerning exposure incidents shall be recorded in a 29 sharps injury log as required by (c) of this section. 30 (c) A sharps injury log must include at least 31 (1) the date and time of the exposure incident; 01 (2) the type and brand of sharp involved in the exposure incident; and 02 (3) the description of the exposure incident that must include 03 (A) the job classification of the exposed employee; 04 (B) the department or work area where the exposure incident 05 occurred; 06 (C) the procedure that the exposed employee was performing 07 at the time of the incident; 08 (D) how the incident occurred; 09 (E) the body part involved in the exposure incident; 10 (F) if the sharp had engineered sharps injury protections, 11 whether the protective mechanism was activated, and whether the injury 12 occurred before the protective mechanism was activated, during activation of 13 the mechanism, or after activation of the mechanism; 14 (G) if the sharp had no engineered sharps injury protections, the 15 injured employee's opinion as to whether and how such a mechanism could 16 have prevented the injury, as well as the basis for the opinion; and 17 (H) whether an engineering, administrative, or work practice 18 control could have prevented the injury, as well as the recorder's basis for the 19 opinion. 20 (d) The department shall adopt regulations to implement AS 18.60.880 - 21 18.60.890 and to revise the bloodborne pathogen standard to prevent sharps injuries 22 or exposure incidents. The regulations may include 23 (1) training and education requirements; 24 (2) measures to increase vaccinations; 25 (3) requirements for the strategic placement of sharps containers as 26 close to the work area as practical; and 27 (4) requirements for the increased use of personal protective equipment. 28 (e) The department shall compile and maintain a list of existing needleless 29 systems and sharps with engineered sharps injury protections. The department shall 30 make the list available to assist employers in complying with the requirements of the 31 bloodborne pathogen standard adopted under this section. The list may be developed 01 from existing sources of information, including the federal Food and Drug 02 Administration, the federal Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of 03 Occupational Safety and Health, and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. 04 (f) Subject to appropriation, the department shall establish a needlestick injury 05 fund. The department may make grants from the fund for research into, development 06 of, and product evaluation of, needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps 07 injury protections. 08 Sec. 18.60.890. Definitions. In AS 18.60.880 - 18.60.890, 09 (1) "bloodborne pathogens" means pathogenic microorganisms that are 10 present in human blood and can cause disease in humans, including hepatitis B virus, 11 hepatitis C virus, and human immunodeficiency virus; 12 (2) "department" means the Department of Labor and Workforce 13 Development; 14 (3) "employer" means an employer having an employee with 15 occupational exposure to human blood or other material potentially containing 16 bloodborne pathogens; 17 (4) "engineered sharps injury protections" means a physical attribute 18 built into 19 (A) a needle device used for withdrawing body fluids, accessing 20 a vein or artery, or administering medications or other fluids that effectively 21 reduces the risk of an exposure incident by a mechanism such as barrier 22 creation, blunting, encapsulation, withdrawal, retraction, destruction, or other 23 effective mechanisms; or 24 (B) another type of needle device, or a nonneedle sharp, that 25 effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident; 26 (5) "engineering controls" means controls, including needleless systems 27 and sharps with engineered sharps injury protections, that isolate or remove the 28 bloodborne pathogens hazard from the workplace; 29 (6) "needleless system" means a device that does not use needles for 30 (A) the withdrawal of body fluids after initial venous or arterial 31 access is established; 01 (B) the administration of medication or fluids; or 02 (C) another procedure involving the potential for an exposure 03 incident; 04 (7) "sharp" means an object used or encountered in a health care setting 05 that can be reasonably anticipated to penetrate the skin or any other part of the body 06 and to result in an exposure incident, including needle devices, scalpels, lancets, 07 broken glass, broken capillary tubes, exposed ends of dental wires, and dental knives, 08 drills, and burs; 09 (8) "sharps injury" means cuts, abrasions, needlesticks, other injuries 10 caused by a sharp, or human bites; 11 (9) "sharps injury log" means a written or electronic record satisfying 12 the requirements of AS 18.60.880(c). 13 * Sec. 2. This Act takes effect January 1, 2001.