(a) Purpose. This section implements the Texas Occupational
Conditions Reporting Act, Health and Safety Code, Chapter 84, which
authorizes the Executive Commissioner of the Health and Human Services
Commission to adopt rules concerning the reporting and control of
occupational conditions.
(b) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in these sections, shall have the following meanings unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Case--A person in whom an occupational condition
is diagnosed by a physician or other health professional acting within
the scope of the professional license, based upon clinical evaluation,
interpretation of laboratory and/or roentgenographic findings, and
an appropriate occupational history.
(2) Commissioner--The commissioner of health.
(3) Department--The Department of State Health Services,
1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756.
(4) Local health authority--The chief administrative
officer of a public health district or a local health department,
or the physician who is to administer state and local laws relating
to public health.
(5) Occupational conditions--Those diseases, abnormal
health conditions or laboratory findings that are caused by or are
related to exposures in the workplace.
(6) Reportable occupational condition--Any occupational
disease, condition or laboratory finding for which an official report
is required. See subsection (d) of this section.
(7) Report of occupational condition--The notification
to the appropriate authority of the occurrence of a specific occupational
disease in a human, including all information required by the procedures
established by this rule.
(8) Suspected case--A case in which an occupational
condition is suspected, but the final diagnosis is not yet made.
(c) Reporting requirements.
(1) It is the duty of every physician or health professional
holding a license to practice in the State of Texas to report promptly
to the local health authority each patient she or he shall examine
and who has or is suspected of having any reportable occupational
condition. The local health authority may authorize a staff member
to transmit reports.
(2) It is the duty of every person who is in charge
of a clinical or hospital laboratory, blood bank, mobile unit, or
other facility in which a laboratory examination of any specimen derived
from a human body yields microscopical, cultural, serological, chemical,
or other evidence suggestive of a reportable condition to report promptly
that information to the local health authority.
(3) The reporting physician, health professional, or
laboratory director shall make the report in writing. A local health
authority may authorize one or more employees under his or her supervision
to receive the report from the physician, health professional, or
laboratory director by telephone; use of this alternative, if authorized,
is at the option of the reporter. The local health authority shall
implement a method of verifying the identity of the telephone caller
when that person is unfamiliar to the employee.
(4) The local health authority shall collect the reports
and transmit the information at weekly intervals to the Environmental
and Injury Epidemiology and Toxicology Unit, Environmental Epidemiology
and Disease Registries Section, Department of State Health Services,
Mail Code 1964, P.O. Box 149347, Austin, Texas, 78714-9347. Transmission
may be made by mail or electronic transfer.
(A) If by mail the reports shall be placed in a sealed
envelope addressed to the attention of the Environmental and Injury
Epidemiology and Toxicology Unit, Environmental Epidemiology and Disease
Registries Section, Department of State Health Services, Mail Code
1964, P.O. Box 149347, Austin, Texas, 78714-9347, and marked "Confidential
Medical Records."
(B) If by electronic transmission, including facsimile
transmission by telephone, it shall be in a manner and form authorized
by the commissioner or his or her designee in each instance. Any electronic
transmission of the reports must provide at least the same degree
of protection against unauthorized disclosure as those of mail transmission.
The commissioner or his or her designee shall, before authorizing
such transmission, establish guidelines for establishing and conducting
such transmission.
(5) When an occupational condition is reported to a
local health authority, and the person diagnosed as having the condition
resides outside his or her area of local health jurisdiction, the
local health authority receiving the report shall notify the appropriate
local health authority where the person or persons reside. The department
shall assist the local health authority in providing such notifications
if requested.
(d) Reportable conditions and information to be reported.
(1) The reportable occupational conditions are: asbestosis,
silicosis, blood lead levels in persons 15 years of age or older,
and acute pesticide poisoning.
(2) Reports for asbestosis and silicosis shall include
all information collected by the reporting person and required to
complete the most recent version of the department's Asbestosis and
Silicosis Case Report Form F09-11626.
(3) Reports for blood lead levels in persons 15 years
of age and older shall include all information collected by the reporting
person and required to complete the most recent version of the department's
Adult Blood Lead Report Form F09-11624.
(4) Reports for acute pesticide poisoning shall include
all information collected by the reporting person and required to
complete the most recent version of the department's Pesticide Poisoning
Report Form EF09-11927.
(e) General control measures for reportable occupational
conditions. The commissioner or his or her duly authorized representative
shall, as circumstances may require, proceed as follows:
(1) investigation shall be made for the purpose of
verifying the diagnosis, ascertaining the source of the causative
agent, obtaining an occupational and employment history and discovering
unreported cases;
(2) collection of specimens of the body tissues, fluids,
or discharges and of materials directly or indirectly associated with
the case, as may be necessary in confirmation of the diagnosis, and
their submission to a laboratory for examination;
(3) obtaining samples of air or materials from the
current or former business or place of employment of a case, as may
be necessary to ascertain if a public health hazard exists. If a hazard
is found the commissioner or his/her designee shall make appropriate
recommendations concerning the hazard.
(f) Confidential nature of case reporting.
(1) All case reports received by the local health authority
or the Department of State Health Services are confidential records
and not public records. These records will be held in a secure location
and accessed only by authorized personnel.
(2) The department may use information obtained from
reports or health records for statistical and epidemiological studies
which may be public information as long as an individual is not identifiable.
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Source Note: The provisions of this §99.1 adopted to be effective October 11, 1985, 10 TexReg 3766; amended to be effective March 1, 1998, 23 TexReg 1581; amended to be effective May 23, 2002, 27 TexReg 4357; amended to be effective April 24, 2003, 28 TexReg 3333; amended to be effective October 25, 2007, 32 TexReg 7469; amended to be effective August 7, 2012, 37 TexReg 5787 |