Florida Senate - 2023                                     SB 706
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       40-00354-23                                            2023706__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to heat illness prevention; creating
    3         s. 448.112, F.S.; providing applicability; defining
    4         terms; requiring certain employers to implement an
    5         outdoor heat exposure safety program that has been
    6         approved by specified agencies; specifying
    7         requirements for the safety program; providing
    8         responsibilities for certain employers and employees;
    9         providing an exception; requiring specified annual
   10         training on heat illness and providing requirements
   11         for such training; requiring the Department of
   12         Agriculture and Consumer Services, in conjunction with
   13         the Department of Health, to adopt specified rules;
   14         providing an effective date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Section 448.112, Florida Statutes, is created to
   19  read:
   20         448.112 Heat illness prevention.—
   21         (1)APPLICABILITY.—
   22         (a)This section applies to employers in industries where
   23  employees regularly perform work in an outdoor environment,
   24  including, but not limited to, agriculture, construction, and
   25  landscaping.
   26         (b)This section does not apply to an employee required to
   27  work in an outdoor environment for fewer than 15 minutes per
   28  hour for every hour in the employee’s entire workday.
   29         (c)This section is supplemental to all related industry
   30  specific standards. When the requirements under this section
   31  offer greater protection than related industry-specific
   32  standards, an employer shall comply with the requirements of
   33  this section.
   34         (2)DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
   35         (a)“Acclimatization” means temporary adaptation of a
   36  person to work in the heat that occurs when a person is
   37  gradually exposed to heat over a 2-week period at a 20 percent
   38  increase in heat exposure per day.
   39         (b)“Drinking water” means potable water. The term includes
   40  electrolyte-replenishing beverages that do not contain caffeine.
   41         (c)“Employee” means a person who performs services for and
   42  under the control and direction of an employer for wages or
   43  other remuneration. The term includes an independent contractor
   44  and a farm labor contractor as defined in s. 450.28.
   45         (d)“Employer” means an individual, a firm, a partnership,
   46  an institution, a corporation, or an association, or an entity
   47  listed in s. 121.021(10) which employs individuals.
   48         (e)“Environmental risk factors for heat illness” means
   49  working conditions that create the possibility of heat illness,
   50  including air temperature; relative humidity; radiant heat from
   51  the sun and other sources; conductive heat from sources such as
   52  the ground, air movement, workload severity and duration; and
   53  protective clothing and equipment worn by an employee.
   54         (f)“Heat illness” means a medical condition resulting from
   55  the body’s inability to cope with a particular heat level. The
   56  term includes heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat syncope, and
   57  heat stroke.
   58         (g)“Outdoor environment” means a location where work
   59  activities are conducted outside. The term includes locations
   60  such as sheds, tents, greenhouses, or other structures where
   61  work activities are conducted inside, but the temperature is not
   62  managed by devices that reduce heat exposure and aid in cooling,
   63  such as air conditioning systems.
   64         (h)“Personal risk factors for heat illness” means factors
   65  specific to an individual, including his or her age; health;
   66  pregnancy; degree of acclimatization; water, alcohol, or
   67  caffeine consumption; use of prescription medications; or other
   68  physiological responses to heat.
   69         (i)“Recovery period” means a cool-down period to reduce an
   70  employee’s heat exposure and aid the employee in cooling down
   71  and avoiding the signs or symptoms of heat illness.
   72         (j)“Shade” means an area that is not in direct sunlight.
   73         (k)“Supervisor” has the same meaning as in s. 448.101.
   74         (3)RESPONSIBILITIES.—An employer of employees who
   75  regularly work in an outdoor environment shall implement an
   76  outdoor heat exposure safety program that has been approved by
   77  the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the
   78  Department of Health and which, at a minimum:
   79         (a)Trains and informs supervisors and employees about heat
   80  illness, how to protect themselves and coworkers, how to
   81  recognize signs and symptoms of heat illness in themselves and
   82  coworkers, and appropriate first-aid measures that can be used
   83  before medical attention arrives in the event of a serious heat
   84  related illness event.
   85         (b)Provides preventive and first-aid measures, such as
   86  loosening clothing, loosening or removing heat-retaining
   87  protective clothing and equipment, accessing shade, applying
   88  cool or cold water to the body, and drinking cool or cold water,
   89  to address the signs or symptoms of heat illness.
   90         (c)Implements the following high-heat procedures, to the
   91  extent practicable, when an employer, manager, supervisor, or
   92  contractor determines that the outdoor heat index equals or
   93  exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit:
   94         1.Make available an effective voice, observational, or
   95  electronic communication system that allows an employee to
   96  contact an employer, manager, supervisor, contractor, or
   97  emergency medical services provider if necessary.
   98         2.Provide a sufficient amount of cool or cold drinking
   99  water at a location that is quickly and easily accessible from
  100  the area where employees work to accommodate all employees
  101  throughout the workday, and remind employees throughout the
  102  workday to consume such water.
  103         3.Ensure that each employee takes a 10-minute recovery
  104  period every 2 hours that the employee is working in an outdoor
  105  environment under high-heat conditions. The recovery period may
  106  be concurrent with a meal period required by law if the timing
  107  of the recovery period coincides with a required meal period.
  108         (4)DRINKING WATER.—An employer shall ensure that a
  109  sufficient quantity of cool or cold, clean drinking water is at
  110  all times readily accessible and free of charge to employees who
  111  work in an outdoor environment. Such drinking water must be
  112  located as close as practicable to the areas where employees
  113  work. If drinking water is not plumbed or otherwise continuously
  114  supplied, an employer must supply a sufficient quantity of
  115  drinking water at the beginning of the workday so that each
  116  employee has at least 1 quart of drinking water per hour for
  117  every hour in the employee’s entire workday. An employer may
  118  supply a smaller quantity of drinking water at the beginning of
  119  the workday if the employer has adequate procedures in place to
  120  allow the employee access to drinking water as needed so that
  121  the employee has at least 1 quart of drinking water per hour for
  122  every hour in the employee’s entire workday.
  123         (5)ACCESS TO SHADE.—
  124         (a)When a supervisor determines that the outdoor heat
  125  index equals or exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the employer must
  126  maintain one or more areas with shade which are open to the air
  127  or offer ventilation or cooling at all times in the area where
  128  employees are working. The amount of available shade must be
  129  able to accommodate all of the employees participating in a
  130  given recovery period in a manner that does not place them in
  131  physical contact with one another.
  132         (b)If an employee exhibits mild to moderate signs or
  133  symptoms of heat illness, the employer must relieve the employee
  134  from duty, provide him or her with access to shade for at least
  135  15 minutes or until such signs or symptoms of heat illness have
  136  abated, and monitor to determine whether medical attention is
  137  necessary. If such signs or symptoms do not abate within such
  138  time period, the employer must seek medical attention for the
  139  employee in a timely manner. If an employee exhibits serious
  140  signs or symptoms of heat illness, the employer must immediately
  141  seek medical attention for the employee and provide first-aid
  142  measures.
  143         (c)If an employer can demonstrate that it is unsafe or not
  144  feasible to provide an area with shade, the employer may provide
  145  alternative cooling measures as long as the employer can
  146  demonstrate that such measures are at least as effective as an
  147  area with shade in reducing heat exposure.
  148         (6)TRAINING.—An employer shall provide annual training on
  149  heat illness that has been approved by the Department of
  150  Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Department of Health
  151  to all employees and supervisors in the languages understood by
  152  a majority of the employees and supervisors. Each employee who
  153  regularly works in, or who is in the process of acclimatization
  154  to, an outdoor environment must participate in the training
  155  provided by the employer. Such training must be approved through
  156  the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the
  157  Department of Health. Training information must be written and
  158  available in English and in all languages understood by the
  159  employees and supervisors. Supervisors shall make such written
  160  materials available upon request.
  161         (a)Training on the following topics must be provided to
  162  all employees who work in an outdoor environment:
  163         1.The environmental risk factors for heat illness.
  164         2.General awareness of personal risk factors for heat
  165  illness and how an employee can monitor his or her own personal
  166  risk factors for heat illness.
  167         3.The importance of loosening clothing and loosening or
  168  removing heat-retaining protective clothing and equipment, such
  169  as nonbreathable chemical-resistant clothing and equipment,
  170  during all recovery and rest periods, breaks, and meal periods.
  171         4.The importance of frequent consumption of cool or cold
  172  drinking water.
  173         5.The concept, importance, and methods of acclimatization.
  174         6.The common signs and symptoms of heat illness,
  175  including, but not limited to, neurological impairment,
  176  confusion, or agitation.
  177         7.The importance of an employee immediately reporting to
  178  the employer, directly or through a supervisor, if the employee
  179  or a coworker exhibits signs or symptoms of heat illness, and
  180  the importance of receiving immediate medical attention for
  181  those signs or symptoms.
  182         8.The employer’s outdoor heat exposure safety program and
  183  related high-heat procedures.
  184         (b)Training on all of the following topics must be
  185  provided to all supervisors before they are authorized to
  186  supervise employees who work in an outdoor environment:
  187         1.Information that must be provided to employees.
  188         2.Procedures that must be followed to implement an outdoor
  189  heat exposure safety program.
  190         3.Procedures that must be followed when an employee
  191  exhibits or reports any signs or symptoms of heat illness.
  192         4.Procedures that must be followed when transporting an
  193  employee who exhibits or reports any signs or symptoms of heat
  194  illness to an emergency medical services provider in a timely
  195  manner.
  196         (7)RULEMAKING.—The Department of Agriculture and Consumer
  197  Services, in conjunction with the Department of Health, shall
  198  adopt rules to implement this section, including, but not
  199  limited to, approved training programs, approved trainers, and a
  200  certification process to acknowledge an employer’s compliance
  201  with the training requirements imposed by this section.
  202         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2023.