BILL REQ. #: S-1401.1
| State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/14/11.
AN ACT Relating to handling of hazardous drugs; adding new sections to chapter 49.17 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature declares that health care
personnel who work with or near hazardous drugs in health care settings
may be exposed to these agents in the air, on work surfaces, clothing,
and medical equipment or through patient contact. According to the
national institute for occupational safety and health, early concerns
about occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs first appeared in
the 1970s. Antineoplastic and other hazardous drugs may cause skin
rashes, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, and have been linked
to a wide variety of cancers. It is the intent of the legislature to
provide for the appropriate regulation of the handling of these drugs
regardless of the setting in order to protect health care personnel
from hazardous exposure to such drugs.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW
to read as follows:
The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 1 through
3 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Antineoplastic" means inhibiting or preventing the growth and
spread of tumors or malignant cells.
(2) "Hazardous drugs" means drugs that exhibit one or more of the
following characteristics in humans or animals: Carcinogenicity;
teratogenicity or other developmental toxicity; reproductive toxicity;
organ toxicity at low doses; genotoxicity; or structure and toxicity
profiles that mimic existing hazardous drugs.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW
to read as follows:
Standards regulating the handling of antineoplastic and other
hazardous drugs by health care personnel shall be established by the
director of labor and industries, in consultation with the secretary of
health, with the initiation of rule making to begin in 2011. Standards
to be adopted shall describe the antineoplastic and hazardous drugs for
which handling is to be regulated, the methods and procedures for their
handling, and such other requirements as may be needed to protect the
health and safety of health care personnel that may include, but is not
limited to, the following: Exposure control program; engineering
controls; safe work practices; personal protective equipment; hazard
communication; emergency response; training; and recordkeeping. The
rule making under this section shall consider reasonable time for
facilities to implement new requirements.