COVID–19 Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6139 To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an emergency temporary standard that requires certain employers to develop and implement a comprehen- sive infectious disease exposure control plan to protect employees in the health care sectors and other employees at elevated risk from expo- sure to SARS–CoV–2, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2020 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Ms. SHALALA, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. ROSE of New York, Mr. COURTNEY, Mrs. TRAHAN, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. WILD, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. TRONE, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. SABLAN, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. NORCROSS, and Mrs. LEE of Nevada) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an emergency temporary standard that requires certain employers to develop and implement a comprehensive infectious dis- ease exposure control plan to protect employees in the health care sectors and other employees at elevated risk from exposure to SARS–CoV–2, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Mar 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6139.IH H6139 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6139 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Health 2 Care Worker Protection Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) The infectious disease COVID–19 presents 6 a grave danger to health care workers who are the 7 first line of defense of the United States against this 8 epidemic. 9 (2) Hundreds of health care workers in the 10 United States have been infected or quarantined due 11 to exposure to patients with COVID–19. Surveys 12 conducted by health care worker unions and others 13 have found that many health care facilities are inad- 14 equately prepared to safely protect health care work- 15 ers who are exposed to the virus. 16 (3) Inadequate infection control precautions 17 have a detrimental impact on health care workers, 18 patients and the public, and if there is breakdown in 19 health care worker protections, the Nation’s public 20 health system is placed at risk. 21 (4) The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 22 (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘SARS’’) epidemic of 23 2003 and 2004 in Canada, which involved a 24 coronavirus, resulted in a disproportionately large 25 number of infections of both health care workers and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Mar 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6139.IH H6139 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6139 IH patients in Ontario, Canada, hospitals due to insuffi- 1 cient infection control procedures involving SARS. 2 (5) The Occupational Safety and Health Ad- 3 ministration began rulemaking on a standard to pro- 4 tect health care workers from airborne and other in- 5 fectious diseases in 2009. In 2017, the Trump Ad- 6 ministration suspended work on this rulemaking, re- 7 moving it from the active Regulatory Agenda. 8 (6) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 9 vention issued a document entitled, ‘‘2007 Guideline 10 for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission 11 of Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings’’ in July, 12 2007. However, the guideline in such document is 13 not binding. 14 (7) Absent an enforceable standard, employers 15 lack mandatory requirements to implement an effec- 16 tive and ongoing infection and exposure control pro- 17 gram that provides protection to health care workers 18 from COVID–19. 19 (8) Section 6(c)(1) of the Occupational Safety 20 and Health Act authorizes the Occupational Safety 21 and Health Administration to issue an ‘‘Emergency 22 Temporary Standard’’ if employees are exposed to 23 grave danger from harmful agents or new hazards 24 and if an emergency standard is necessary to protect 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Mar 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6139.IH H6139 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6139 IH employees from such danger. The widespread out- 1 break of COVID–19 clearly satisfies these two condi- 2 tions. 3 (9) The Occupational Safety and Health Ad- 4 ministration has received two petitions in March 5 2020 calling on the Occupational Safety and Health 6 Administration to issue an Emergency Temporary 7 Standard to protect workers from COVID–19. 8 (10) An Emergency Temporary Standard is 9 necessary to ensure the immediate protection of 10 workers in health care workplaces and other high- 11 risk workplaces identified by the Centers for Disease 12 Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety 13 and Health Administration from infection related to 14 COVID–19. 15 TITLE I—COVID–19 EMERGENCY 16 TEMPORARY STANDARD 17 SEC. 101. COVID–19 EMERGENCY TEMPORARY STANDARD. 18 (a) EMERGENCY TEMPORARY STANDARD.—Pursuant 19 to section 6(c)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health 20 Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655(c)(1)), not later than 1 month 21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 22 Labor shall promulgate an emergency temporary standard 23 to protect from occupational exposure to SARS–CoV–2— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Mar 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6139.IH H6139 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6139 IH (1) employees of health care sector employers; 1 and 2 (2) employees in other sectors whom the Cen- 3 ters for Disease Control and Prevention or the Occu- 4 pational Safety and Health Administration identifies 5 as having elevated risk. 6 (b) PERMANENT STANDARD.—Upon publication of 7 the emergency standard under subsection (a), the Sec- 8 retary of Labor shall commence a proceeding to promul- 9 gate a standard under section 6(c)(3) of the Occupational 10 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655(c)(3)) with 11 respect to such emergency temporary standard. 12 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—Each standard promulgated 13 under this section shall— 14 (1) require the employers of the employees de- 15 scribed in subsection (a) to develop and implement 16 a comprehensive infectious disease exposure control 17 plan; and 18 (2) at a minimum, be based on the precautions 19 for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the 20 ‘‘2007 Guideline for Isolation Precautions: Pre- 21 venting Transmission of Infectious Agents in 22 Healthcare Settings’’ of the Centers for Disease 23 Control and Prevention and any subsequent updates; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Mar 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6139.IH H6139 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6139 IH (3) provide no less protection for novel patho- 1 gens than precautions mandated by standards 2 adopted by a State plan that has been approved by 3 the Secretary of Labor under section 18 of the Oc- 4 cupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 5 U.S.C. 667). 6 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 7 SOCIAL SECURITY ACT 8 SEC. 201. APPLICATION OF COVID–19 EMERGENCY TEM- 9 PORARY STANDARD TO CERTAIN FACILITIES 10 RECEIVING MEDICARE FUNDS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1866 of the Social Secu- 12 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc) is amended— 13 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 14 (A) in subparagraph (X), by striking 15 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 16 (B) in subparagraph (Y), by striking the 17 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 18 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (Y) 19 the following new subparagraph: 20 ‘‘(Z) in the case of hospitals that are not 21 otherwise subject to the Occupational Safety 22 and Health Act of 1970 (or a State occupa- 23 tional safety and health plan that is approved 24 under 18(b) of such Act) and skilled nursing fa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Mar 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6139.IH H6139 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6139 IH cilities that are not otherwise subject to such 1 Act (or such a State occupational safety and 2 health plan), to comply with the standards pro- 3 mulgated under section 101 of the COVID–19 4 Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2020.’’; 5 and 6 (2) in subsection (b)(4)— 7 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 8 ‘‘and a hospital or skilled nursing facility that 9 fails to comply with the requirement of sub- 10 section (a)(1)(Z) (relating to the standards pro- 11 mulgated under section 101 of the COVID–19 12 Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2020)’’ 13 after ‘‘Bloodborne Pathogens Standard)’’; and 14 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 15 (i) by striking ‘‘(a)(1)(U)’’ and insert- 16 ing ‘‘(a)(1)(V)’’; and 17 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of a 18 failure to comply with the requirement of 19 subsection (a)(1)(Z), for a violation of the 20 standards referred to in such subsection by 21 a hospital or skilled nursing facility, as ap- 22 plicable, that is subject to the provisions of 23 such Act)’’ before the period at the end. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Mar 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6139.IH H6139 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6139 IH (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 subsection (a) shall apply beginning on the date that is 2 1 month after the date of promulgation of the emergency 3 temporary standard under section 101 of the COVID–19 4 Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2020. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Mar 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6139.IH H6139 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS