6403.5.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:(1) “Lift, reposition, and transfer needs assessment” means a system whereby patients are identified based on the potential risk of injury to the patient or to the health care worker in the event that the patient requires a lift, repositioning, or transfer, consistent with the professional judgment and clinical assessment of the registered nurse.
(2) “Lift team” means hospital employees specially trained to handle patient lifts, repositionings, and transfers using patient transfer, repositioning, or lifting devices as appropriate for the specific patient based on the individual hospital’s own
needs assessment.
(3) “Safe patient handling policy,” sometimes referred to as “zero lift,” is a term of art recognized internationally to mean replacing unassisted manual lifting, repositioning, and transferring of patients with the use of patient lift, repositioning, or transfer devices, and lift teams. A safe patient handling policy does not require the use of patient lift, repositioning, or transfer devices if the individual hospital’s own needs assessment indicates that it is safe for the patient and the employee to utilize techniques not requiring the use of those devices.
(b) As a part of the injury and illness prevention programs required by this chapter, each general acute care hospital, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, shall adopt a patient protection and health care worker back and musculoskeletal injury prevention plan. The
plan shall include a safe patient handling policy component reflected in professional occupational safety guidelines for the protection of patients and health care workers in health care facilities.
(c) (1) Each general acute care hospital shall develop its own individual lift, repositioning, and transfer needs assessment to determine if a patient requires the use of a lift team or specialized equipment for patient lifts, repositionings, and transfers.
(2) Patients identified as being at risk of injury due to a lift, repositioning, or transfer, as well as patient lifts, repositionings, or
transfers identified, using the individual hospital’s own needs assessment, as having potential for placing health care workers at risk of being injured while lifting, repositioning, or transferring a patient, shall, except in emergency situations, require a lift team or specialized equipment to lift, reposition, or transfer the patient.
(3) For patients not at risk for injury due to a lift, repositioning, or transfer, and patient lifts, repositionings, or transfers identified, using the individual hospital’s own needs assessment, as having little or no potential for placing health care workers at risk of being injured, a lift team or specialized equipment to lift, reposition, or
transfer the patient shall not be required.
(4) Lift team members may perform other duties as assigned during their shift.
(d) Each general acute care hospital shall provide training to health care workers on the appropriate use of lift, repositioning, and transfer devices. Training for these health care workers shall include body mechanics and the use of lift, repositioning, and transfer devices to safely handle patients.
(e) Lift team members shall receive specialized training and shall demonstrate proficiency in safe techniques for lift, repositioning, and transferring patients and the appropriate use of lift, repositioning, or transfer devices.
(f) A health care worker who refuses to lift, reposition, or transfer a patient due to concerns about patient and worker safety and the lack of trained lift team personnel or equipment shall not, based upon the refusal, be the subject of disciplinary action by the hospital or any of its managers or employees.
(g) Notwithstanding subdivision
(f), a hospital, its managers, or its employees may discipline a health care worker who refuses to lift, reposition, or transfer a patient if the health care worker has been trained on appropriate patient and equipment lifting procedures and has appropriate and functional devices and equipment available to perform the requested lift, reposition, or transfer.