Florida Senate - 2025 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1212
Ì907214ÃÎ907214
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RS .
03/19/2025 .
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The Committee on Banking and Insurance (DiCeglie) recommended
the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 30 - 146
4 and insert:
5 occupational disease, or suicide; conduct safety inspections of
6 those firefighter employers;, and assist those firefighter
7 employers in the development and implementation of firefighter
8 employee safety and health programs. In addition, it is the
9 intent of the Legislature that the division administer and
10 enforce this part; provide assistance to firefighter employers,
11 firefighter employees, and insurers; and enforce the policies,
12 rules, and standards set forth in this part.
13 Section 2. Present subsection (7) of section 633.508,
14 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (8), a new
15 subsection (7) is added to that section, and subsections (1) and
16 (2) and paragraph (a) of present subsection (7) of that section
17 are amended, to read:
18 633.508 Workplace safety; rulemaking authority; division
19 authority.—
20 (1) The division shall assist in making the firefighter
21 employee place of employment a safer place to work and
22 decreasing the frequency and severity of on-the-job injuries and
23 fatalities in such workplace.
24 (2) The division shall have the authority to adopt rules
25 for the purpose of ensuring safe working conditions for all
26 firefighter employees by authorizing the enforcement of
27 effective standards;, by assisting and encouraging firefighter
28 employers to maintain safe working conditions, including, but
29 not limited to, the establishment of a telehealth service that
30 provides access to mental health care and suicide prevention
31 specifically targeted to the unique needs of firefighters; and
32 by providing for education and training in the field of safety,
33 including training related to cancer and mental health risks
34 within the fire service. Specifically, the division may by rule
35 adopt the most current edition of all or any part of subparts C
36 through T and subpart Z of 29 C.F.R. s. 1910; the National Fire
37 Protection Association, Inc., Publication 1403, Standard on Live
38 Fire Training Evolutions, as limited by subsection (6); and ANSI
39 A 10.4.
40 (7) The division shall adopt rules relating to all of the
41 following:
42 (a) Requiring firefighter employers to issue firefighting
43 gear that does not contain chemical hazards or toxic substances
44 if such gear becomes readily available on the commercial market.
45 For purposes of this paragraph, the term “readily available”
46 means that more than one manufacturer offers firefighting gear
47 that does not contain chemical hazards or toxic substances. The
48 division may recommend a phased approach in adopting rules for
49 replacing firefighting gear that contains chemical hazards or
50 toxic substances.
51 (b) Requiring firefighter employers that issue firefighting
52 gear that contains or is manufactured with chemical hazards or
53 toxic substances to provide their firefighter employees notice
54 that the firefighting gear issued contains or is manufactured
55 with chemical hazards or toxic substances.
56 (c) Encouraging firefighter employers to implement work
57 schedules that do not require a firefighter employee’s normally
58 scheduled shifts to exceed 42 hours per workweek.
59 (8)(7) The department shall:
60 (a) Investigate and prescribe by rule what safety devices,
61 safeguards, or other means of protection must be adopted for the
62 prevention of accidents and injuries in every firefighter
63 employee place of employment or at any fire scene; determine
64 what suitable devices, safeguards, or other means of protection
65 for the prevention of occupational diseases must be adopted or
66 followed in any or all such firefighter places of employment or
67 at any emergency fire scene; and adopt reasonable rules for the
68 prevention of accidents, the safety, protection, and security of
69 firefighter employees engaged in interior firefighting, and the
70 prevention of occupational diseases and fatalities.
71 Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 633.520, Florida
72 Statutes, is amended to read:
73 633.520 Safety; firefighter employer responsibilities.—
74 (2) The division shall adopt rules to establish:
75 (a) Employers’ cancer prevention best practices related to
76 personal protective equipment, decontamination, fire suppression
77 equipment, education on chemical hazards and toxic substances in
78 protective gear, and fire stations.
79 (b) Employers’ mental health best practices related to
80 resiliency, stress management, peer support, and access to
81 mental health care.
82 Section 4. Subsection (1), paragraph (b) of subsection (2),
83 and paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 633.522, Florida
84 Statutes, are amended to read:
85 633.522 Firefighter employers; high frequency of work
86 related injuries; corrective plans; workplace safety committees
87 and coordinators; failure to implement a safety and health
88 program; cancellation.—
89 (1) The division shall develop a means to identify
90 individual firefighter employers with a high frequency of
91 firefighter employee work-related injuries and suicide. The
92 division shall conduct safety inspections of those firefighter
93 employers so identified to ensure compliance with this part or
94 the division’s rules and make recommendations based upon current
95 safety and health practices and to assist such firefighter
96 employers in reducing the number of work-related injuries and
97 suicide. The division may not assess penalties as a result of
98 such inspections. Copies of any report made as the result of
99 such an inspection shall be provided to the firefighter employer
100 and its insurer. Firefighter employers shall submit a plan for
101 the correction of any noncompliance issues to the division for
102 approval in accordance with division rule. The division shall
103 promptly review the plan submitted and approve or disapprove the
104 plan within 60 days, or such plan shall be deemed approved. Upon
105 approval by the division, the plan shall be implemented by the
106 firefighter employer. If the plan is not submitted, does not
107 provide corrective actions for all deficiencies, is not
108 complete, or is not implemented, the fire service provider shall
109 be subject to s. 633.526.
110 (2) In order to promote health and safety in firefighter
111 employee places of employment in this state:
112 (b) Each firefighter employer of fewer than 20 firefighter
113 employees with a high frequency or high severity of work-related
114 injuries or fatalities, as identified by the division, shall
115 establish and administer a workplace safety committee or
116 designate a workplace safety coordinator who shall establish and
117 administer workplace safety activities in accordance with rules
118 adopted under this section.
119 (3) The division shall adopt rules:
120 (c) Prescribing the duties and functions of the workplace
121 safety committee and workplace safety coordinator which include,
122 but are not limited to:
123 1. Establishing procedures for workplace safety inspections
124 by the committee.
125 2. Establishing procedures for investigating all workplace
126 accidents, safety-related incidents, illnesses, and deaths.
127 3. Evaluating accident prevention, and illness prevention,
128 and suicide prevention programs.
129 4. Prescribing guidelines for the training of safety
130 committee members.
131 Section 5. Section 633.526, Florida Statutes, is amended to
132 read:
133 633.526 Firefighter employer penalties.—If any firefighter
134 employer violates or fails or refuses to comply with this part,
135 or with any rule adopted by the division under such sections in
136 accordance with chapter 120 for the prevention of injuries,
137 accidents, or occupational diseases or with any lawful order of
138 the division in connection with this part, or fails or refuses
139 to furnish or adopt any safety device, safeguard, or other means
140 of protection prescribed by division rule under this part for
141 the prevention of accidents, injuries, fatalities, or
142 occupational diseases, the division may:
143
144 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
145 And the title is amended as follows:
146 Delete lines 6 - 10
147 and insert:
148 of Financial Services to assist in decreasing the
149 frequency and severity of fatalities; revising the
150 division’s authority to adopt rules; requiring the
151 division to adopt rules; defining the term “readily
152 available”; authorizing the division to recommend a
153 phased approach in adopting certain rules related to
154 firefighting gear; amending s. 633.520, F.S.;
155 requiring the division to adopt rules relating to
156 education on chemical hazards and toxic substances in
157 protective gear and mental health best