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