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                       ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5457

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State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Health & Long‑Term Care (originally sponsored by Senators L. Smith, Rasmussen, West, Stratton, Johnson, Owen, Saling, McCaslin, Bailey, Metcalf, Craswell, Amondson, Hayner, Thorsness and Cantu).

Read first time March 6, 1991.Prohibiting certain public contact and requiring notification of employers by persons infected with HIV.

     AN ACT Relating to persons infected with HIV; adding a new section to chapter 70.24 RCW; prescribing penalties; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 70.24 RCW to read as follows:

     (1) If the absence of HIV infection is a bona fide occupational qualification for the job in question, any person who knows or should have known that he or she is infected with HIV shall notify his or her employer, or the principal administrator of any health care facility within which he or she may practice a health profession, of his or her HIV status.

     (2) No person shall engage in any contact with the public in the course of employment that is determined by the board in rule to present a significant risk of transmitting HIV to other persons without having first obtained informed consent in writing from such persons or such persons' guardians.

     (3) A violation of subsection (1) or (2) of this section is unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.130.180(15).

     (4) The board shall adopt rules defining "significant risk" as used in this section and RCW 49.60.172 to include procedures involving digital palpation of a needle tip in a body cavity or the simultaneous presence of a health care worker's fingers and a needle or other sharp instrument or object in a poorly visualized or highly confined anatomic site and any contact that the federal centers for disease control have determined to result in an actual HIV transmission, including invasive medical procedures in which recommended infection control procedures may have failed.

     (5) Any person who violates subsection (2) of this section shall pay for pretest counseling, HIV testing, and posttest counseling as recommended by the board in rule to determine whether persons who have been exposed have become infected with HIV.

     (6) Any person who knows or should have known that he or she is infected with HIV shall notify such other persons as the board determines in rule may have been at significant risk of exposure to the infection as a result of contact with the infected person in the course of the infected person's employment.

     (7) A health care provider who, within his or her scope of practice, may order blood tests for diagnostic purposes may perform an HIV test on a patient if the provider determines that the HIV test is medically appropriate and necessary to (a) protect the safety of any person who has been placed at significant risk of exposure to HIV during the course of providing health care or support services for the patient, or (b) facilitate accurate diagnosis and treatment of the patient.

     (8) The board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.      This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.