NEEDLESTICK SAFETY AND PREVENTION ACT: JOINT STATEMENT OF LEGISLATIVE INTENT (Senate)

The text, reproduced here by the International Healthcare Worker Safety Center, University of Virginia, is part of the U.S. government legislative record and as such is in the public domain. Passages deemed of particular importance have been highlighted in bold. The Statement of Legislative Intent provides guidance to courts and OSHA administrative law judges in cases where the " plain meaning " of the legislation is in dispute. It can also help healthcare administrators and others understand more clearly what the law was intended to achieve. [Note: for prefatory remarks by sponsoring senators, see p. 4] JOINT STATEMENT OF LEGISLATIVE INTENT ON H.R. 5178: The legislation derives from the convergence of two critical circumstances which have a profound effect on the safety of health care workers in the United States. The first circumstance is the increased concern over accidental needlestick injuries in health care settings. ''Needlesticks'' is a term used broadly, as health care workers can suffer injuries from a broad array of ''sharps'' used in health care settings, from needles to IV catheters to lancets. The second circumstance is the technological advancements made over the past decade in the many types of engineering controls that can be used in the workplace to help protect health care workers against sharps injuries. Because of the convergence of these two circumstances— and because of increasing concern over the public health issue related to the spread of hepatitis C, it is appropriate to take this action at this time. Section 1 of the Bill provides the title the ''Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act.'' Section 2 of the bill provides the Congressional findings. Section 3 of the bill directly modifies the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1030, one of the health and safety standards promulgated by the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The legislation builds on the most recent action taken by OSHA related to the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard— the revision in November 1999 to OSHA's Compliance Directive on Enforcement Procedures for the Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens (''Compliance Directive''). In modifying the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (''BBP standard'') this bill makes narrowly-tailored changes to the BBP standard. It makes clear in the BBP standard the direction already provided by OSHA in its Compliance Directive: