Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 1538
       
       
        
       By Senator Torres
       
       
       
       
       
       15-01770A-19                                          20191538__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to heat illness prevention; creating
    3         s. 448.111, F.S.; providing applicability; providing
    4         definitions; providing responsibilities of certain
    5         employers and employees; providing an exception;
    6         requiring certain employers to provide annual training
    7         for certain employees and supervisors; requiring the
    8         Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to
    9         adopt rules; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 448.111, Florida Statutes, is created to
   14  read:
   15         448.111Heat illness prevention.—
   16         (1)APPLICABILITY.—
   17         (a)This section applies to employers in industries where
   18  employees regularly perform work in an outdoor environment,
   19  including, but not limited to, agriculture, construction, and
   20  landscaping.
   21         (b)This section does not apply to an employee who is
   22  required to work in an outdoor environment for less than 15
   23  minutes per hour for every hour in the employee’s workday.
   24         (c)This section is supplemental to all related industry
   25  specific standards. When the requirements under this section
   26  offer greater protection than related industry-specific
   27  standards, an employer shall comply with the requirements of
   28  this section.
   29         (2)DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
   30         (a)“Acclimatization” means temporary adaptation of a
   31  person to work in the heat that occurs when a person is
   32  gradually exposed to heat over a 2-week period at a 20 percent
   33  increase in heat exposure per day.
   34         (b)“Drinking water” means potable water. The term includes
   35  electrolyte-replenishing beverages that do not contain caffeine.
   36         (c)“Employee” means a person who performs services for and
   37  under the control and direction of an employer for wages or
   38  other remuneration. The term includes an independent contractor.
   39         (d)“Employer” means an individual, a firm, a partnership,
   40  an institution, a corporation, an association, or an entity
   41  listed in s. 121.021(10) that employs individuals.
   42         (e)“Environmental risk factors for heat illness” means
   43  working conditions that create the possibility of heat illness,
   44  including air temperature, relative humidity, radiant heat from
   45  the sun and other sources, conductive heat from sources such as
   46  the ground, air movement, workload severity and duration, and
   47  protective clothing and equipment worn by an employee.
   48         (f)“Heat illness” means a serious medical condition
   49  resulting from the body’s inability to cope with a particular
   50  heat. The term includes heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat
   51  syncope, and heat stroke.
   52         (g)“Outdoor environment” means a location where work
   53  activities are conducted outside. The term includes locations
   54  such as sheds, tents, or other structures where work activities
   55  are conducted inside but the temperature is not managed by
   56  devices that reduce heat exposure and aid in cooling such as air
   57  conditioning systems.
   58         (h)“Personal risk factors for heat illness” means factors
   59  specific to an individual, including his or her age; degree of
   60  acclimatization; health; water, alcohol, or caffeine
   61  consumption; use of prescription medications; or other
   62  physiological responses to heat.
   63         (i)“Recovery period” means a cool down period to reduce an
   64  employee’s heat exposure and aid the employee in cooling down
   65  and avoiding the signs or symptoms of heat illness.
   66         (j)“Shade” means an area blocked from direct sunlight.
   67         (k)“Supervisor” has the same meaning as in s. 448.101.
   68         (3)RESPONSIBILITIES.—
   69         (a)An employer of employees who regularly work in an
   70  outdoor environment shall create an outdoor heat exposure safety
   71  program, which must, at a minimum:
   72         1.Train and inform supervisors and employees, including
   73  farm labor contractors, about heat illness, how to recognize
   74  heat illness in themselves and coworkers, and appropriate first
   75  aid measures that can be used before medical attention arrives.
   76         2.Provide preventative and first aid measures, such as
   77  loosening clothing, loosening or removing heat-retaining
   78  protective clothing and equipment, accessing shade or a place to
   79  rest, or drinking water, to address the signs or symptoms of
   80  heat illness.
   81         3.Implement the following high-heat procedures, to the
   82  extent practicable, when a supervisor determines that the
   83  outdoor environment temperature equals or exceeds 95 degrees
   84  Fahrenheit:
   85         a.Ensure that effective communication by voice,
   86  observation, or electronic means is maintained so that an
   87  employee may contact a supervisor or an emergency medical
   88  services provider if necessary.
   89         b.Remind employees throughout the workday to consume
   90  drinking water.
   91         c.Ensure that each employee takes a 10-minute recovery
   92  period every 2 hours that the employee is working in an outdoor
   93  environment. The recovery period may be concurrent with a meal
   94  period required by law if the timing of the recovery period
   95  coincides with a required meal period.
   96         d.Conduct a preshift meeting each workday to review the
   97  high-heat procedures.
   98         (b)An employee who regularly works, or who is in the
   99  process of acclimatization, in an outdoor environment shall
  100  participate in the training that is provided by the employer
  101  pursuant to subsection (6). An employee is responsible for
  102  monitoring his or her own personal risk factors for heat
  103  illness.
  104         (4)DRINKING WATER.—An employer shall ensure that a
  105  sufficient quantity of cool, clean drinking water is at all
  106  times readily accessible and free of charge to employees who
  107  work in an outdoor environment. Such drinking water shall be
  108  located as close as practicable to the areas where employees are
  109  working. If drinking water is not plumbed or otherwise
  110  continuously supplied, an employer shall supply a sufficient
  111  quantity of drinking water at the beginning of the workday so
  112  each employee has at least one quart of drinking water per hour
  113  for the employee’s entire workday. An employer may supply a
  114  smaller quantity of drinking water at the beginning of the
  115  workday if the employer has adequate procedures in place to
  116  allow the employee access to drinking water as needed so the
  117  employee has at least one quart of drinking water per hour for
  118  the employee’s entire workday.
  119         (5)ACCESS TO SHADE.—
  120         (a)When the supervisor determines that the outdoor
  121  environment temperature equals or exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit,
  122  the employer must maintain one or more areas with shade that are
  123  open to the air or offer ventilation or cooling at all times
  124  where employees are working. The amount of shade present must be
  125  able to accommodate the total number of employees participating
  126  in a recovery period at one time without the employees having to
  127  be in physical contact with each other.
  128         (b)An employee who exhibits signs or symptoms of heat
  129  illness shall be relieved from duty, provided with access to
  130  shade for at least 15 minutes or until the signs or symptoms of
  131  heat illness have abated, and monitored to determine whether
  132  medical attention is necessary. If such signs or symptoms do not
  133  abate within this time, an employer shall seek medical attention
  134  in a timely manner for the employee.
  135         (c)If an employer can demonstrate that it is unsafe or not
  136  feasible to provide an area with shade, the employer may provide
  137  alternative cooling measures as long as the employer can
  138  demonstrate that such measures are at least as effective as an
  139  area with shade in reducing heat exposure.
  140         (6)TRAINING.—An employer shall provide annual training to
  141  all employees and supervisors in the languages understood by a
  142  majority of the employees and supervisors. Training information
  143  shall be written in English and translated into all languages
  144  understood by the employees and supervisors. Supervisors shall
  145  make such written materials available upon request.
  146         (a)Training on the following topics shall be provided to
  147  all employees who work in an outdoor environment:
  148         1.The environmental risk factors for heat illness.
  149         2.General awareness of personal risk factors for heat
  150  illness.
  151         3.The importance of loosening clothing and loosening or
  152  removing heat-retaining protective clothing and equipment, such
  153  as nonbreathable chemical-resistant clothing and equipment,
  154  during all recovery and rest periods, breaks, and meal periods.
  155         4.The importance of frequent consumption of drinking
  156  water.
  157         5.The concept, importance, and methods of acclimatization.
  158         6.The common signs and symptoms of heat illness.
  159         7.The importance of an employee immediately reporting to
  160  the employer, directly or through a supervisor, signs or
  161  symptoms of heat illness in himself or herself or a coworker,
  162  and the importance of immediate medical attention if there are
  163  any signs or symptoms of neurological impairment, confusion, or
  164  agitation.
  165         8.The employer’s outdoor heat exposure safety program and
  166  related high-heat procedures.
  167         (b)Training on all of the following topics shall be
  168  provided to all supervisors before the supervisor is authorized
  169  to supervise employees who work in an outdoor environment:
  170         1.Information required to be provided to employees.
  171         2.Procedures a supervisor must follow to implement this
  172  section.
  173         3.Procedures a supervisor must follow when an employee
  174  exhibits or reports signs or symptoms of heat illness.
  175         4.Procedures for transporting to an emergency medical
  176  services provider an employee who exhibits or reports signs or
  177  symptoms of heat illness in a swift and timely manner if
  178  necessary.
  179         (7)RULEMAKING.—The Department of Agriculture and Consumer
  180  Services shall adopt rules to implement this section.
  181         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2019.