Florida Senate - 2025 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1212
Ì691486LÎ691486
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/19/2025 .
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The Committee on Banking and Insurance (DiCeglie) recommended
the following:
1 Senate Substitute for Amendment (907214) (with title
2 amendment)
3
4 Delete lines 30 - 146
5 and insert:
6 occupational disease, or suicide; conduct safety inspections of
7 those firefighter employers;, and assist those firefighter
8 employers in the development and implementation of firefighter
9 employee safety and health programs. In addition, it is the
10 intent of the Legislature that the division administer and
11 enforce this part; provide assistance to firefighter employers,
12 firefighter employees, and insurers; and enforce the policies,
13 rules, and standards set forth in this part.
14 Section 2. Present subsection (7) of section 633.508,
15 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (8), a new
16 subsection (7) is added to that section, and subsections (1) and
17 (2) and paragraph (a) of present subsection (7) of that section
18 are amended, to read:
19 633.508 Workplace safety; rulemaking authority; division
20 authority.—
21 (1) The division shall assist in making the firefighter
22 employee place of employment a safer place to work and
23 decreasing the frequency and severity of on-the-job injuries and
24 fatalities in such workplace.
25 (2) The division shall have the authority to adopt rules
26 for the purpose of ensuring safe working conditions for all
27 firefighter employees by authorizing the enforcement of
28 effective standards;, by assisting and encouraging firefighter
29 employers to maintain safe working conditions, including, but
30 not limited to, the establishment of a telehealth service that
31 provides access to mental health care and suicide prevention
32 specifically targeted to the unique needs of firefighters; and
33 by providing for education and training in the field of safety,
34 including training related to cancer and mental health risks
35 within the fire service. Specifically, the division may by rule
36 adopt the most current edition of all or any part of subparts C
37 through T and subpart Z of 29 C.F.R. s. 1910; the National Fire
38 Protection Association, Inc., Publication 1403, Standard on Live
39 Fire Training Evolutions, as limited by subsection (6); and ANSI
40 A 10.4.
41 (7) The division shall adopt rules relating to all of the
42 following:
43 (a) Requiring firefighter employers to issue firefighting
44 gear that does not contain chemical hazards or toxic substances
45 if such gear becomes readily available on the commercial market.
46 For purposes of this paragraph, the term “readily available”
47 means that more than one manufacturer offers firefighting gear
48 that does not contain chemical hazards or toxic substances. The
49 division may recommend a phased approach in adopting rules for
50 replacing firefighting gear that contains chemical hazards or
51 toxic substances.
52 (b) Requiring firefighter employers that issue firefighting
53 gear that contains or is manufactured with chemical hazards or
54 toxic substances to provide their firefighter employees notice
55 that the firefighting gear issued contains or is manufactured
56 with chemical hazards or toxic substances.
57 (c) Encouraging firefighter employers to implement work
58 schedules that do not require a firefighter employee’s normally
59 scheduled shifts to exceed 42 hours per workweek.
60 (8)(7) The department shall:
61 (a) Investigate and prescribe by rule what safety devices,
62 safeguards, or other means of protection must be adopted for the
63 prevention of accidents and injuries in every firefighter
64 employee place of employment or at any fire scene; determine
65 what suitable devices, safeguards, or other means of protection
66 for the prevention of occupational diseases must be adopted or
67 followed in any or all such firefighter places of employment or
68 at any emergency fire scene; and adopt reasonable rules for the
69 prevention of accidents, the safety, protection, and security of
70 firefighter employees engaged in interior firefighting, and the
71 prevention of occupational diseases and fatalities.
72 Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 633.520, Florida
73 Statutes, is amended to read:
74 633.520 Safety; firefighter employer responsibilities.—
75 (2) The division shall adopt rules to establish:
76 (a) Employers’ cancer prevention best practices related to
77 personal protective equipment, decontamination, fire suppression
78 equipment, education on chemical hazards and toxic substances in
79 protective gear, and fire stations.
80 (b) Employers’ mental health best practices related to
81 resiliency, stress management, peer support, and access to
82 mental health care.
83 Section 4. Subsection (1), paragraph (b) of subsection (2),
84 and paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 633.522, Florida
85 Statutes, are amended to read:
86 633.522 Firefighter employers; high frequency of work
87 related injuries; corrective plans; workplace safety committees
88 and coordinators; failure to implement a safety and health
89 program; cancellation.—
90 (1) The division shall develop a means to identify
91 individual firefighter employers with a high frequency of
92 firefighter employee work-related injuries, occupational
93 disease, and suicide. The division shall conduct safety
94 inspections of those firefighter employers so identified to
95 ensure compliance with this part or the division’s rules and
96 make recommendations based upon current safety and health
97 practices and to assist such firefighter employers in reducing
98 the number of work-related injuries, occupational disease, and
99 suicide. The division may not assess penalties as a result of
100 such inspections. Copies of any report made as the result of
101 such an inspection shall be provided to the firefighter employer
102 and its insurer. Firefighter employers shall submit a plan for
103 the correction of any noncompliance issues to the division for
104 approval in accordance with division rule. The division shall
105 promptly review the plan submitted and approve or disapprove the
106 plan within 60 days, or such plan shall be deemed approved. Upon
107 approval by the division, the plan shall be implemented by the
108 firefighter employer. If the plan is not submitted, does not
109 provide corrective actions for all deficiencies, is not
110 complete, or is not implemented, the fire service provider shall
111 be subject to s. 633.526.
112 (2) In order to promote health and safety in firefighter
113 employee places of employment in this state:
114 (b) Each firefighter employer of fewer than 20 firefighter
115 employees with a high frequency or high severity of work-related
116 injuries or fatalities, as identified by the division, shall
117 establish and administer a workplace safety committee or
118 designate a workplace safety coordinator who shall establish and
119 administer workplace safety activities in accordance with rules
120 adopted under this section.
121 (3) The division shall adopt rules:
122 (c) Prescribing the duties and functions of the workplace
123 safety committee and workplace safety coordinator which include,
124 but are not limited to:
125 1. Establishing procedures for workplace safety inspections
126 by the committee.
127 2. Establishing procedures for investigating all workplace
128 accidents, safety-related incidents, illnesses, and deaths.
129 3. Evaluating accident prevention, and illness prevention,
130 and suicide prevention programs.
131 4. Prescribing guidelines for the training of safety
132 committee members.
133 Section 5. Section 633.526, Florida Statutes, is amended to
134 read:
135 633.526 Firefighter employer penalties.—If any firefighter
136 employer violates or fails or refuses to comply with this part,
137 or with any rule adopted by the division under such sections in
138 accordance with chapter 120 for the prevention of injuries,
139 accidents, or occupational diseases or with any lawful order of
140 the division in connection with this part, or fails or refuses
141 to furnish or adopt any safety device, safeguard, or other means
142 of protection prescribed by division rule under this part for
143 the prevention of accidents, injuries, fatalities, or
144 occupational diseases, the division may:
145
146 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
147 And the title is amended as follows:
148 Delete lines 6 - 10
149 and insert:
150 of Financial Services to assist in decreasing the
151 frequency and severity of fatalities; revising the
152 division’s authority to adopt rules; requiring the
153 division to adopt rules; defining the term “readily
154 available”; authorizing the division to recommend a
155 phased approach in adopting certain rules related to
156 firefighting gear; amending s. 633.520, F.S.;
157 requiring the division to adopt rules relating to
158 education on chemical hazards and toxic substances in
159 protective gear and mental health best