House Bill 4359

    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4359

        By the Committee on Business Regulation & Consumer Affairs
    and Representative Ogles





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to industrial hygienists and

  3         safety professionals; creating s. 501.937,

  4         F.S.; providing requirements for use of

  5         professional titles by industrial hygienists

  6         and safety professionals; providing

  7         definitions; providing that violation of such

  8         requirements is a deceptive and unfair trade

  9         practice; providing an effective date.

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11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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13         Section 1.  Section 501.937, Florida Statutes, is

14  created to read:

15         501.937  Industrial hygienists and safety

16  professionals; use of professional titles; failure to

17  comply.--

18         (1)  Any person representing himself or herself as a

19  "safety professional" or "industrial hygienist" must

20  accurately disclose his or her credentials.

21         (2)  A person may not represent himself or herself as a

22  "certified safety professional," "associate safety

23  professional," "certified occupational health and safety

24  technologist," "industrial hygienist in training," or

25  "certified industrial hygienist" unless he or she holds a

26  current valid certificate in the field of safety or industrial

27  hygiene from either the American Board of Industrial Hygiene

28  or the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, or unless the

29  Department of Business and Professional Regulation has, upon

30  request, examined another certification program and has

31  formally concluded that the certification standards of that

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4359

    190-910-98






  1  certification program are substantially equivalent to the

  2  standards for certificates issued by those organizations; nor

  3  may the person mislead or deceive anyone by the unauthorized

  4  use of any certification mark that has been awarded by the

  5  United States Patent and Trademark Office.

  6         (3)(a)  A "safety professional" is a person having a

  7  baccalaureate degree in safety, engineering, chemistry,

  8  physics, or a closely related physical or biological science

  9  who has acquired competency in the field of safety. The

10  studies and training necessary to acquire such competency

11  should have been sufficient in all of the above cognate

12  sciences to provide the abilities to anticipate, identify, and

13  evaluate hazardous conditions and practices; to develop hazard

14  control designs, methods, procedures, and programs; to

15  implement, administer, and advise others on hazard controls

16  and hazard control programs; and to measure, audit, and

17  evaluate the effectiveness of hazard controls and hazard

18  control programs.

19         (b)  An "industrial hygienist" is a person having a

20  baccalaureate degree in engineering, chemistry, physics, or a

21  closely related physical or biological science who has

22  acquired competency in the field of industrial hygiene. The

23  studies and training necessary to acquire such competency

24  should have been sufficient in all of the above cognate

25  sciences to provide the abilities to anticipate and recognize

26  the environmental factors and stresses associated with work

27  and work operations and to understand their effects on people

28  and their well-being; to evaluate, on the basis of training

29  and experience and with the aid of quantitative measurement

30  techniques, the magnitude of these factors and stresses in

31  terms of ability to impair human health and well-being; and to

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4359

    190-910-98






  1  prescribe methods to eliminate, control, or reduce such

  2  factors and stresses when necessary to alleviate their

  3  effects.

  4         (4)  Failure to comply with this section constitutes a

  5  deceptive and unfair trade practice.

  6         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1 of the

  7  year in which enacted.

  8

  9            *****************************************

10                          HOUSE SUMMARY

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      Provides requirements for use of professional titles by
12    industrial hygienists and safety professionals, and
      provides that violation of such requirements is a
13    deceptive and unfair trade practice. See bill for
      details.
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