Disease protection.

California is about to become the first state in the nation to enact rules to protect employees from exposure to infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, measles or H1N1, better known as swine flu.

The rules, approved in May by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, will take effect Aug. 5. They apply to any facility that treats, diagnoses or houses people with illnesses, including hospitals, clinics, nursing care facilities, correctional facilities and homeless shelters. The rules also will cover emergency responders, chiefly fire department personnel and paramedics.

Currently there are no specific statewide requirements outlining responsibilities that employers must use to address transmissible diseases as a workplace safety hazard for their employees.

Under the new rules, health care employers and supervisors at other facilities where people may be ill must develop exposure control procedures and train employees to follow them. Basic practices such as hand-washing, cleaning and decontamination procedures must also be observed.

"This is designed to protect employees who are likely to come in contact with transmittable diseases, which is especially significant due to recent events such as the H1N1 swine flu outbreak," said John Duncan, director of the state Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees the standards board.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [e-mail] or at (323) 5495225, ext. 227.