Minnesota Session Laws - 2000, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 351-S.F.No. 2397 
                  An act relating to occupational health and safety; 
                  establishing standards for employer activities to 
                  reduce occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens 
                  through sharps injuries; proposing coding for new law 
                  in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 182. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  [182.6555] [REDUCING OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES TO 
        BLOODBORNE PATHOGENS THROUGH SHARPS INJURIES.] 
           (a) Employers must comply with Code of Federal Regulations, 
        title 29, section 1910.1030, to eliminate or minimize employee 
        exposure to bloodborne pathogens through sharps injuries.  
           (b) Written exposure control plans prepared by employers 
        must be reviewed at least annually and whenever necessary to 
        reflect new or modified tasks and procedures which affect 
        occupational exposures and to reflect new or revised employee 
        positions with occupational exposure.  The requirement to review 
        and update the plan means that the plan must reflect changes in 
        technology that eliminate or reduce exposure to bloodborne 
        pathogens.  The exposure control plan must document 
        consideration and implementation of appropriate commercially 
        available and effective engineering controls, for example, 
        needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps injury 
        protection, designed to eliminate or minimize exposure. 
           (c) A safety committee established under section 182.676 
        must make advisory recommendations for the use of effective 
        engineering controls.  The recommendations are not binding on 
        the employer.  One-half of the members of the safety committee 
        must be employee representatives of job classifications that 
        would use or may reasonably anticipate encountering any device 
        in the category being evaluated in the performance of the 
        employee's duties.  The employer may establish a subcommittee of 
        the safety committee to meet the requirements of this 
        paragraph.  One-half of the members of this subcommittee must be 
        employee representatives of job classifications that would use 
        or may reasonably anticipate encountering any device in the 
        category being evaluated in the performance of the employee's 
        duties.  Employers not required to establish a safety committee 
        under section 182.676 must involve their employees in the 
        evaluation of effective engineering controls. 
           (d) This section does not prohibit the use of a prefilled 
        syringe that is approved by the federal Food and Drug 
        Administration.  This paragraph expires May 1, 2003.  
           (e) Employers must establish internal procedures to 
        document the route of exposure and the circumstances under which 
        an exposure incident occurred.  This information should include: 
           (1) engineering controls in use at the time; 
           (2) work practices followed; 
           (3) a description and brand name of the device in use; 
           (4) protective equipment or clothing that was used at the 
        time of the exposure incident; 
           (5) location; 
           (6) procedure being performed when the incident occurred; 
           (7) the employee's training; and 
           (8) the injured employee's opinion about whether any other 
        engineering, administrative, or work practice control could have 
        prevented the injury and the basis for that opinion. 
           Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Section 1 is effective 60 days following final enactment. 
           Presented to the governor April 6, 2000 
           Signed by the governor April 10, 2000, 2:50 p.m.