Emergencies: personnel: training requirements: opioid overdose reversals., the official text

An act to add Section 6724 to the Labor Code, relating to employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority and requires the authority to coordinate state activities concerning emergency medical services.
Existing law grants the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is within the Department of Industrial Relations, jurisdiction over all employment and places of employment, and the power necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and standards. Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 (OSHA), requires employers to comply with certain safety and health standards, as specified, and charges the division with enforcement of the act. Under OSHA, certain violations of the act are punishable as a crime.
Exiting law requires the division, before December 1, 2027, to submit a draft rulemaking proposal to revise specified regulations on first aid materials and emergency medical services to require first aid materials in a workplace to include naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to reverse opioid overdose and instructions for using the opioid antagonist. Existing law requires the standards board to consider for adoption revised standards for the standards described above on or before December 1, 2028.
This bill would require an employer operating in this state that requires cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification training of its employees to also require those employees, except as specified, to take an online video module training on the use of naloxone to increase the rate of opioid overdose reversals, as prescribed. The bill would require the Emergency Medical Services Authority to review and approve the online video module trainings to ensure that the training content meets certain minimum standards. The bill would require the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to enforce these provisions in accordance with the division’s existing authority under OSHA. By expanding the scope of a crime under OSHA, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 6724 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
6724.
(a) Any employer operating in this state that requires cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification training of its employees shall also require those employees to take an online video module training on the use of naloxone approved by the Emergency Medical Services Authority pursuant to subdivision (c), including, but not limited to, those offered by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross, to increase the rate of opioid overdose reversals. Each employer shall pay for the costs of the training.
(b) The training required by subdivision (a) shall be separate from the existing CPR-training curriculum.
(c) (1) The Emergency Medical Services Authority shall review and approve the online video module trainings described in subdivision (a) to ensure that the training includes, at a minimum, all of the following:
(A) Recognition of the signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose.
(B) Appropriate response actions, including emergency procedures.
(C) Proper administration of naloxone or other opioid antagonists approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
(2) The authority’s role shall be limited to approving the training content for consistency with these minimum standards and shall not include administration, enforcement, or ongoing monitoring of employer compliance with subdivision (a).
(d) (1) The Division of Occupational Safety and Health shall enforce this section in accordance with the division’s existing authority under this part.
(2) The division shall not be required to adopt new regulations or establish a new program to implement this section and enforcement shall occur as part of the division’s existing inspection and enforcement activities.
(e) (1) An employee who has completed CPR certification, first aid certification, or other training through a program that the Emergency Medical Services Authority determines includes training meeting or exceeding the minimum standards described in subdivision (c) shall be deemed to satisfy the requirement of subdivision (a), and the employer shall not be required to provide separate training to that employee, provided that the employer maintains documentation of the qualifying program or certification.
(2) The Emergency Medical Services Authority may establish a process by which a training program, certifying body, or employer may seek a determination that an existing training meets or exceeds the minimum standards described in subdivision (c). Nothing in this section shall be construed to discourage or limit training that exceeds those minimum standards.
(f) (1) The training required under this section is for educational and preparedness purposes only and does not create an independent duty, authorization, or expectation for any employee to administer naloxone.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to expand, modify, or supersede any state or federal law, regulation, or licensing requirement governing scope of practice, medication administration, or delegation of clinical tasks, including, but not limited to, requirements applicable under Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
(3) This section applies uniformly to all covered employers. No employer classification, facility type, or program type shall be exempt from the training requirement solely on the basis of existing clinical staffing levels or internal medication administration policies. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to preclude the recognition of equivalent training as provided in subdivision (e).

SEC. 2.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.