Bill > AB1202

This bill requires the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to create new rules for how healthcare workers handle hazardous drugs, specifically antineoplastic drugs which are used to treat cancer. These new rules, which will be added as Section 144.8 to the Labor Code, must be consistent with guidelines from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a federal agency focused on worker safety, particularly their 2004 and 2010 alerts on preventing exposure to these drugs. The board must consider input from various healthcare professionals and organizations when developing these standards, and they will determine a reasonable timeframe for healthcare facilities to implement the new requirements, regardless of the specific healthcare setting.