1. Senate Bill No. 132–Committee on Commerce and Labor

CHAPTER........

AN ACT relating to industrial insurance; providing for the availability of benefits to certain

police officers and firemen for exposure to a contagious disease; and providing other

matters properly relating thereto.

 

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Chapter 616A of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto

a new section to read as follows:

"Police officer" has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 617.135.

Sec. 2. NRS 616A.025 is hereby amended to read as follows:

  1. 616A.025 As used in chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS,
  1. unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in NRS
  1. 616A.030 to 616A.360, inclusive, and section 1 of this act have the
  1. meanings ascribed to them in those sections.
  1. Sec. 3. NRS 616A.035 is hereby amended to read as follows:
  1. 616A.035 1. "Accident benefits" means medical, surgical, hospital or
  1. other treatments, nursing, medicine, medical and surgical supplies, crutches
  1. and apparatuses, including prosthetic devices.
  1. 2. The term includes [medical] :
  1. (a) Medical benefits as defined by NRS 617.130 [and any preventive] ;
  1. (b) Preventive treatment administered as a precaution to an employee
  1. who is exposed to a contagious disease while providing medical services,
  1. including emergency medical care, in the course and scope of his
  1. employment [.] ; and
  1. (c) Preventive treatment administered as a precaution to a police
  1. officer or a salaried or volunteer fireman who was exposed to a
  1. contagious disease:
  1. (1) Upon battery by an offender; or
  1. (2) While performing the duties of a police officer or fireman,
  1. if the exposure is documented by the creation and maintenance of a
  1. report concerning the exposure pursuant to subsection 1 of section 5 of
  1. this act.
  1. 3. The term does not include:
  1. (a) Exercise equipment, a hot tub or a spa for an employee’s home;
  1. (b) Membership in an athletic or health club;
  1. (c) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 616C.245, a motor vehicle; or
  1. (d) The costs of operating a motor vehicle provided pursuant to NRS
  1. 616C.245, fees related to the operation or licensing of the motor vehicle or
  1. insurance for the motor vehicle.
  1. 4. As used in this section, the term
  1. :
  2. (a) "Battery" includes, without limitation, the intentional propelling
  1. or placing, or the causing to be propelled or placed, of any human
  1. excrement or bodily fluid upon the person of an employee.
  1. (b) "Preventive treatment" includes, without limitation, tests to
  1. determine if an employee has contracted the contagious disease to which
  1. he was exposed.

Sec. 4. NRS 616A.265 is hereby amended to read as follows:

  1. 616A.265 1. "Injury" or "personal injury" means a sudden and
  1. tangible happening of a traumatic nature, producing an immediate or
  1. prompt result which is established by medical evidence, including injuries
  1. to prosthetic devices. Any injury sustained by an employee while engaging
  1. in an athletic or social event sponsored by his employer shall be deemed
  1. not to have arisen out of or in the course of employment unless the
  1. employee received remuneration for participation in the event.
  1. 2. For the purposes of chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS:
  1. (a) Coronary thrombosis, coronary occlusion, or any other ailment or
  1. disorder of the heart, and any death or disability ensuing therefrom, shall be
  1. deemed not to be an injury by accident sustained by an employee arising
  1. out of and in the course of his employment.
  1. (b) The exposure of an employee to a contagious disease while
  1. providing medical services, including emergency medical care, in the
  1. course and scope of his employment shall be deemed to be an injury by
  1. accident sustained by the employee arising out of and in the course of his
  1. employment.
  1. (c) The exposure to a contagious disease of a police officer or a
  1. salaried or volunteer fireman who was exposed to the contagious disease:
  1. (1) Upon battery by an offender; or
  1. (2) While performing the duties of a police officer or fireman,
  1. shall be deemed to be an injury by accident sustained by the police officer
  1. or fireman arising out of and in the course of his employment if the
  1. exposure is documented by the creation and maintenance of a report
  1. concerning the exposure pursuant to subsection 1 of section 5 of this act.
  1. As used in this paragraph, the term "battery" includes, without
  1. limitation, the intentional propelling or placing, or the causing to be
  1. propelled or placed, of any human excrement or bodily fluid upon the
  1. person of an employee.

Sec. 5. Chapter 616C of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a

new section to read as follows:

  1. 1. If a police officer or a salaried or volunteer fireman is exposed to
  1. a contagious disease:
  1. (a) Upon battery by an offender; or
  1. (b) While performing the duties of a police officer or fireman,
  1. the employer of the police officer or fireman shall create and maintain a
  1. report concerning the exposure that includes, without limitation, the
  1. name of each police officer or fireman, as applicable, who was exposed
  2. to the contagious disease and the name of each person, if any, to whom
  1. the police officer or fireman was exposed.

2. If the employment of a police officer or a salaried or volunteer

fireman is terminated, voluntarily or involuntarily, the employer of the

police officer or fireman shall, at the time of termination and at 6 and 12

months after the date of termination, provide to the police officer or

fireman a blood test to screen for contagious diseases, including, without

limitation, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, tuberculosis and human

immunodeficiency virus. If a blood test administered pursuant to this

subsection and provided to the employer reveals that a former police

officer or a former salaried or volunteer fireman has a contagious

disease or the antibodies associated with a contagious disease, the police

officer or fireman is eligible, during his lifetime, to receive compensation

for such a disease and any additional diseases or conditions that are

associated with or result from the contagious disease pursuant to

chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, and chapter 617 of NRS. The former

employer of a police officer or a salaried or volunteer fireman shall pay

all the costs associated with providing blood tests required pursuant to

this subsection.

3. As used in this section, the term "battery" includes, without

limitation, the intentional propelling or placing, or the causing to be

propelled or placed, of any human excrement or bodily fluid upon the

person of an employee.

Sec. 6. NRS 616C.160 is hereby amended to read as follows:

  1. 616C.160 If, after a claim for compensation is filed pursuant to NRS
  1. 616C.020:
  1. 1. The injured employee seeks treatment from a physician or
  1. chiropractor for a newly developed injury or disease; and
  1. 2. The employee’s medical records for the injury reported do not
  1. include a reference to the injury or disease for which treatment is being
  1. sought, or there is no documentation indicating that there was possible
  1. exposure to an injury described in paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection 2 of
  1. NRS 616A.265,
  1. the injury or disease for which treatment is being sought must not be
  1. considered part of the employee’s original claim for compensation unless
  1. the physician or chiropractor establishes by medical evidence a causal
  1. relationship between the injury or disease for which treatment is being
  1. sought and the original accident.

Sec. 7. The provisions of this act do not apply to an employee who,

before July 1, 1999, is receiving compensation pursuant to the provisions of

chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, or chapter 617 of NRS.

Sec. 8. This act becomes effective on July 1, 1999.

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