California law mandates new rules for preventing needlesticks
Enforcement issue now resolved for new legislation
When the California Legislature passed a law requiring all health care providers to use safety devices to prevent needlestick injuries in health care workers, many wondered just how strict the new law would be. As requirements fall into place, it is becoming quite clear that Cal/OSHA (California Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and the Department of Health Service (DHS) are taking the law quite seriously.
DHS, for instance, recently mailed a survey to all manufacturers of safety devices.
"As we identify new manufacturers and products, we would like to include them in our survey," says Martha Davis, MSPH, EMT, program director/epidemiologist for DHS in Oakland. She notes the list is not an "approved vendor" listing, but a list "that will assist purchasers in safety product selection" in terms of what is on the market.
In order for a product to be listed on the state’s safety device list, the product must be either a needleless system or a sharp with engineered sharps injury protection. These terms are defined in the revised Cal/OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard as:
A. Needleless System means a device that does not utilize needles for:
1) The withdrawal of body fluids after initial venous or arterial access is established.
2) The administration of medication or fluids.
3) Any other procedure involving the potential for an exposure incident.
B. Engineered Sharps Injury Protection means either:
1) A physical attribute built into a needle device used for withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or artery, or administering medications or other fluids, which effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident by a mechanism such as barrier creation, blunting, encapsulation, withdrawal, or other effective mechanisms.
2) A physical attribute built into any other type of needle device, or into a non-needle sharp, which effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident.
Dean Fryer, a spokesman for the Department of Industrial Relations, Cal/OSHA, in Sacramento, says there are two areas in which Cal/OSHA will be able to monitor a provider’s adherence to the law.
"Any time there is a complaint, we are required to investigate. And that is where the majority of our workload is, so a lot of it will fall into that category," he says. "At any point in time, we would go out and investigate a complaint from an employee regarding safe needles not being used. It’s considered an unsafe practice in the workplace and a potential hazard to the employee. [So a complaint by an employee] would initiate an investigation."
Fryer points out Cal/OSHA will not conduct random, surprise visits of providers.
"In regards to doing routine spot inspections, we only do that for industries that are considered high hazard — and this is not considered a high-hazard industry — so we would not go out and do spot inspections," he says. "It would only be as the result of an accident or a complaint that we would do anything."
It’s unclear exactly when the legislation will take full effect, but Aug. 1 is the latest date.
"The enforcement aspect must be in place by July 1," says Fryer. "July 1 is the date we’re looking at in order to give all the employers time to get up to date on the standards. This provides a window of opportunity for them to come into compliance."
Davis notes Aug. 1 may be the actual deadline. "It depends on how long things take with the standards board for everything to be finalized," she says.
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