Report Title:
Medical Safety
Description:
Protects nurses and other health care workers from needlestick and other sharps-related injuries. (HB790 HD2)
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
790 |
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TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001 |
H.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to health care worker injury prevention.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that health care workers are in danger of contracting serious and even fatal diseases as a result of being stuck by needles or getting cut from other contaminated sharp instruments. It has been estimated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that six hundred thousand to one million needlestick injuries occur each year in health care facilities. Studies indicate that nurses sustain the majority of these injuries.
There are at least twenty bloodborne pathogens that can be transmitted by needlesticks, including HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Despite improvements in the treatment of HIV, most health care workers who become infected eventually develop AIDS. In addition to the health effects from needlesticks and other injuries, there are psychological and other adverse consequences.
The CDC estimates that between sixty-two to eighty-eight per cent of needlestick injuries can potentially be prevented by the use of safer medical devices. Needlestick and other sharps-related injuries that can cause occupational bloodborne pathogens exposure remain an important public health concern.
The purpose of this Act is to protect nurses and other health care workers from needlestick and other sharps-related injuries, notwithstanding the enactment of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act that amended the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's 1991 blood-borne pathogens standard.
SECTION 2. In addition to complying with the requirements imposed under 29 Code of Federal Regulations section 1910.1030(h)(5) regarding the sharps injury log, the director shall require employers who are required to maintain records for employees with occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens to include in the sharps injury log the following:
(1) The job classification of the exposed worker;
(2) The procedure that the exposed worker was performing at the time of the incident; and
(3) Any suggestion by the injured employee as to whether or how protective mechanisms or work practice controls could be used to prevent such injuries.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.