New Cal OSHA Regulation Targets Aerosol Transmissible Diseases

Cal/OSHA recently adopted a new regulation to prevent the transmission of aerosol transmissible diseases (ATDs) at health care facilities, including nursing homes, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, drug treatment programs, and among specific service providers, such as emergency responders.  Aerosol transmissible diseases include influenza--all types, chicken pox, tuberculosis, and several more listed in the regulation’s appendix.  Most dental practices and many specialty medical practices will be exempt from the regulation, as long as the practices comply with specific conditions. 

CDA worked with agency staff early in the regulation’s development, starting in 2006, and proposed the use of CDC’s infection control recommendations for dentistry as a guide for Cal/OSHA.  The agency also worked with other groups to gather information before releasing a draft regulation last year.  A public hearing on the draft regulation was held in the fall and the final language was approved in May.  The regulation is effective August 5.  It can be found in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations Section 5199.

To be exempt from the regulation, dental practices must comply with all of the following conditions:

• The dental practice does not perform dental procedures on patients with aerosol ATDs or who are suspected ATD cases.
• The dental practice’s Injury and Ilness Prevention Plan includes a written procedure for screening patients for ATDs that is consistent with current CDC guidelines for infection control in dental settings, and this procedure is followed before performing any dental procedure on a patient to determine whether the patient may present an ATD exposure risk.
• Employees have been trained in the screening procedure. (This can be easily incorporated into existing infection control or Cal/OSHA training, and does not require a separate class dedicated to ATDs.)
• Aerosol generating dental procedures are not performed on a patient identified through the screening procedure as presenting a possible ATD exposure risk unless a licensed physician determines that the patient does not currently have an ATD.

The CDA Practice Support Center has updated its sample Injury and Ilness Prevention Plan to help your practice comply with the new requirements.  Members can download the free sample plan from cdacompass.com.  User registration and log-in is required on this Web site.  After log-in, use the Search box for the term “injury and illness.”