HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania hospitals and outpatient surgical facilities would be required to adopt policies for removing potentially hazardous surgical smoke under bipartisan legislation approved this week by the General Assembly, sending new workplace safety requirements to Gov. Josh Shapiro for consideration.
House Bill 27, sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Tarik Khan of Philadelphia and Republican state Rep. Tim Bonner, would require hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities to implement policies governing the use of surgical smoke evacuation systems during procedures that produce smoke.
The legislation is intended to reduce exposure among nurses, surgeons, other operating room personnel and patients to airborne contaminants generated during surgical procedures.
Surgical smoke is produced when medical instruments burn or cauterize human tissue. The resulting emissions can contain potentially harmful chemicals and microscopic particles that circulate in operating rooms.
Healthcare workers who regularly participate in surgical procedures may experience repeated exposure over the course of their careers.
The proposed requirements would direct covered facilities to establish policies for using evacuation equipment that captures smoke at its source, limiting the amount released into the surrounding environment.
The measure would establish a statewide policy requirement for hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities rather than leave surgical smoke management entirely to individual institutions.
Khan, a nurse practitioner, characterized the legislation as an occupational health measure addressing risks associated with routine surgical work.
“No nurse or healthcare worker should have to put their own health at risk just to do their job,” Khan stated. “This legislation is an important step toward making our operating rooms safer for both healthcare workers and patients.”
The bill’s passage reflects bipartisan support for additional protections in healthcare settings, with Khan and Bonner serving as co-prime sponsors.
The legislation also addresses patient exposure during procedures involving equipment that generates surgical smoke.
House Bill 27 now awaits action by Shapiro. If signed, it would establish new requirements for surgical smoke evacuation policies at covered Pennsylvania healthcare facilities.
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