S.F. No. 3948 - Surgical Smoke Evacuation System Policies

• Requires health care employers (hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities) to adopt and implement policies mandating use of smoke evacuation systems during surgical procedures likely to generate surgical smoke.

• Defines "surgical smoke" as gaseous by-products from energy-generating devices including surgical plume, smoke plume, bio-aerosols, laser-generated airborne contaminants, and lung-damaging dust.

• Defines "smoke evacuation system" as equipment that captures and filters surgical smoke at the site of origin before contact with occupants' eyes or respiratory tracts.

• Enforcement through the commissioner under Minnesota Statutes sections 182.66 and 182.661, with violations subject to penalties under section 182.666.

• Effective January 1, 2025.