HB 117 Summary

• Creates a presumption that emergency rescue and public safety workers (firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, law enforcement, correctional officers) who contract COVID-19 or certain infectious diseases contracted them in the line of duty, unless proven otherwise.

• Requires workers to file a written affidavit verifying they were not exposed to the disease outside their employment, with specific timeframes: 14 days before COVID-19 diagnosis, 10 days before meningococcal meningitis diagnosis, and since last negative tuberculosis test for TB.

• Mandates employing agencies maintain exposure records and immediately notify employees of known or suspected occupational exposures to hepatitis, meningococcal meningitis, tuberculosis, COVID-19, or other infectious diseases declared as public health emergencies.

• Requires workers to file incident or accident reports with their employer for each instance of known or suspected occupational exposure to covered diseases.

• Expands the definition of "body fluids" to include respiratory, salivary, and sinus fluids for COVID-19 and infectious disease transmission purposes, and adds "infectious disease" as a new category covering diseases declared public health emergencies.