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Assembly Bill No. 628–Committee on Commerce and Labor

AN ACT relating to industrial insurance; revising the circumstances under which certain police officers and firemen are entitled to receive compensation for exposure to tuberculosis; 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. NRS 616A.035 is hereby amended to read as follows:

616A.035 1. “Accident benefits” means medical, surgical, hospital

or other treatments, nursing, medicine, medical and surgical supplies,

crutches and apparatuses, including prosthetic devices.

2. The term includes:

(a) Medical benefits as defined by NRS 617.130;

(b) Preventive treatment administered as a precaution to an employee

who is exposed to a contagious disease while providing medical services,

including emergency medical care, in the course and scope of his

employment; and

or a salaried or volunteer fireman who [was] :

(1) Was exposed to a contagious disease:

[(1)] (I) Upon battery by an offender; or

[(2)] (II) While performing the duties of a police officer or

fireman,

if the exposure is documented by the creation and maintenance of a report

concerning the exposure pursuant to subsection 1 of NRS 616C.052[.] ; or

(2) Tests positive for exposure to tuberculosis under the

circumstances described in NRS 616C.052.

3. The term does not include:

(a) Exercise equipment, a hot tub or a spa for an employee’s home;

(b) Membership in an athletic or health club;

(d) The costs of operating a motor vehicle provided pursuant to NRS

616C.245, fees related to the operation or licensing of the motor vehicle or

insurance for the motor vehicle.

4. As used in this section : [, the term:]

(a) “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.

(b) “Preventive treatment” includes, without limitation[, tests] :

(1) Tests to determine if an employee has contracted [the] a

contagious disease to which he was exposed[.] ; and

(2) If an employee tests positive for exposure to tuberculosis under

the circumstances described in NRS 616C.052, such medication and

chest X-rays as are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Sec. 2. NRS 616A.265 is hereby amended to read as follows:

616A.265 1. “Injury” or “personal injury” means a sudden and

tangible happening of a traumatic nature, producing an immediate or

prompt result which is established by medical evidence, including injuries

to prosthetic devices. Any injury sustained by an employee while engaging

in an athletic or social event sponsored by his employer shall be deemed

not to have arisen out of or in the course of employment unless the

employee received remuneration for participation in the event.

2. For the purposes of chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS:

(a) Coronary thrombosis, coronary occlusion, or any other ailment or

disorder of the heart, and any death or disability ensuing therefrom, shall

be deemed not to be an injury by accident sustained by an employee arising

out of and in the course of his employment.

(b) The exposure of an employee to a contagious disease while

providing medical services, including emergency medical care, in the

course and scope of his employment shall be deemed to be an injury by

accident sustained by the employee arising out of and in the course of his

employment.

to a contagious disease of a police officer or a salaried or volunteer fireman

who was exposed to the contagious disease:

(1) Upon battery by an offender; or

(2) While performing the duties of a police officer or

fireman,

shall be deemed to be an injury by accident sustained by the police officer

or fireman arising out of and in the course of his employment if the

exposure is documented by the creation and maintenance of a report

concerning the exposure pursuant to subsection 1 of NRS 616C.052. As

used in this paragraph, 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.

(d) If a police officer or a salaried or volunteer fireman tests positive

for exposure to tuberculosis under the circumstances described in

subsection 2 or 3 of NRS 616C.052, he shall be deemed to have sustained

an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment,

unless the insurer can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the

exposure was not related to the employment of the police officer or

fireman.

Sec. 3. NRS 616C.052 is hereby amended to read as follows:

616C.052 1. If a police officer or a salaried or volunteer fireman is

exposed to a contagious disease:

(a) Upon battery by an offender; or

(b) While performing the duties of a police officer or

fireman,

the employer of the police officer or fireman shall create and maintain a

report concerning the exposure that includes, without limitation, the name

of each police officer or fireman, as applicable, who was exposed to the

contagious disease and the name of each person, if any, to whom the police

officer or fireman was exposed.

2. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (d) of subsection 2 of

NRS 616A.265, if the results of a physical examination administered

pursuant to NRS 617.455 or 617.457 to a police officer or a salaried or

volunteer fireman after the commencement of his employment reveal that

the police officer or fireman tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis,

the police officer or fireman is eligible, during his lifetime, to receive

compensation pursuant to chapters 616A to 617, inclusive, of NRS for

tuberculosis and any additional diseases or conditions that are associated

with or result from tuberculosis.

3. 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] :

(a) At the time of termination and at 3 months after the date of

termination, provide to the police officer or fireman a purified protein

derivative skin test to screen for exposure to tuberculosis, unless the

police officer or fireman previously submitted to such a test and tested

positive for exposure to tuberculosis. Except as otherwise provided in

paragraph (d) of subsection 2 of NRS 6161A.265, if a skin test

administered pursuant to this paragraph and provided to the employer

reveals that the police officer or fireman tested positive for exposure to

tuberculosis, the police officer or fireman is eligible, during his lifetime,

to receive compensation pursuant to chapters 616A to 617, inclusive, of

NRS for tuberculosis and any additional diseases or conditions that are

associated with or result from tuberculosis.

(b) 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 other 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] paragraph and

provided to the employer reveals that [a former] the police officer or [a

former salaried or volunteer] fireman has [a] any other contagious disease

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

fireman is eligible, during his lifetime, to receive compensation pursuant

to chapters 616A to 617, inclusive, of NRS 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 617, inclusive, of NRS.]

4. The former employer of a police officer or a salaried or volunteer

fireman shall pay all the costs associated with providing skin and blood

tests required pursuant to [this subsection.

3.] subsection 3.

5. 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. 4. NRS 616C.160 is hereby amended to read as follows:

616C.160 If, after a claim for compensation is filed pursuant to NRS

616C.020:

1. The injured employee seeks treatment from a physician or

chiropractor for a newly developed injury or disease; and

2. The employee’s medical records for the injury reported do not

include a reference to the injury or disease for which treatment is being

sought, or there is no documentation indicating that there was possible

exposure to an injury described in paragraph (b) , [or] (c) or (d) of

subsection 2 of NRS 616A.265,

the injury or disease for which treatment is being sought must not be

considered part of the employee’s original claim for compensation unless

the physician or chiropractor establishes by medical evidence a causal

relationship between the injury or disease for which treatment is being

sought and the original accident.

Sec. 5. NRS 617.454 is hereby amended to read as follows:

617.454 1. Any physical examination administered pursuant to NRS

617.455 or 617.457 must include [a] :

(a) A thorough test of the functioning of the hearing of the employee[.

The test] ; and

(b) A purified protein derivative skin test to screen for exposure to

tuberculosis.

2. The tests required by this section must be paid for by the employer.

Sec. 6. The provisions of this act do not apply to an employee who,

before July 1, 2001, is receiving compensation pursuant to the provisions

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

Sec. 7. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2001.

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