BILL REQ. #:  S-0695.3 

Read first time 01/31/11.   Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection.

     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.