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CS/HB 929 — Firefighter Health and Safety
by Insurance & Banking Subcommittee; and Reps. Booth, Alvarez, D., and others (CS/CS/SB 1212 by Fiscal Policy Committee; Banking and Insurance Committee; and Senators DiCeglie, Sharief, Calatayud, Bernard, Arrington, Pizzo, Osgood, Smith, Collins, Gruters, Harrell, Berman, Ingoglia, and Polsky)
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Banking and Insurance Committee (BI)
The bill amends the Florida Firefighters Occupational Safety and Health Act (FFOSHA) to expand several protections for firefighters.
The bill:
- Modifies the FFOSHA’s legislative intent to address work schedules, firefighter employee fatalities compensable under ch. 112, F.S., and occupational diseases or suicide.
- Requires the Division of State Fire Marshal (Division) to assist in making the firefighter employee's place of employment a safer place of work by decreasing the frequency of fatalities.
- Requires the Division to adopt rules:
- Requiring firefighter employers to purchase firefighting gear that does not contain chemical hazards or toxic substances when such gear becomes available from more than one manufacturer. The related rule may recommend a phased-in approach.
- Requiring firefighter employers issuing firefighting gear containing or is manufactured with chemical hazards or toxic substances to provide notice to firefighter employees that the gear issued may contain or be manufactured with chemical hazards or toxic substances.
- Encouraging firefighter employers to implement work schedules with normally scheduled shifts that do not exceed 42 hours per workweek.
- Employers’ cancer prevention best practices related to chemical hazards or toxic substance education regarding personal protective equipment.
- Employers’ mental health best practices related to resiliency, stress management, peer support, and access to mental healthcare.
- Expanding the duties and functions of the workplace safety committee and workplace safety coordinator to include evaluating suicide prevention programs.
- Requires the Division to develop means to identify individual firefighter employers with a high frequency of firefighter employee suicide.
- Requires the Division to conduct safety inspections and make recommendations to assist firefighter employers in reducing the number of suicides.
- Requires each firefighter employer of fewer than 20 firefighter employees with a high frequency of work-related fatalities to establish and administer a workplace safety committee or designate a workplace safety coordinator who must establish and administer certain workplace safety activities.
- Subjects a firefighter employer to penalties for failing or refusing to comply with protections prescribed by Division rule for the prevention of injuries and fatalities.
If approved by the Governor, or allowed to become law without the Governor’s signature, these provisions take effect July 1, 2025.
Vote: Senate 37-0; House 115-0