Florida Senate - 2020 SB 882
By Senator Torres
15-01179-20 2020882__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to heat illness prevention; creating
3 s. 448.111, F.S.; providing applicability; defining
4 terms; providing responsibilities of certain employers
5 and employees; providing an exception; requiring
6 certain employers to provide annual training for
7 employees and supervisors; requiring the Department of
8 Agriculture and Consumer Services, in conjunction with
9 the Department of Health, to adopt specified rules;
10 providing an effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Section 448.111, Florida Statutes, is created to
15 read:
16 448.111 Heat illness prevention.—
17 (1) APPLICABILITY.—
18 (a) This section applies to employers in industries where
19 employees regularly perform work in an outdoor environment,
20 including, but not limited to, agriculture, construction, and
21 landscaping.
22 (b) This section does not apply to an employee who is
23 required to work in an outdoor environment for fewer than 15
24 minutes per hour for every hour in the employee’s entire
25 workday.
26 (c) This section is supplemental to all related industry
27 specific standards. When the requirements under this section
28 offer greater protection than related industry-specific
29 standards, an employer shall comply with the requirements of
30 this section.
31 (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
32 (a) “Acclimatization” means temporary adaptation of a
33 person to work in the heat that occurs when a person is
34 gradually exposed to heat over a 2-week period at a 20-percent
35 increase in heat exposure per day.
36 (b) “Drinking water” means potable water. The term includes
37 electrolyte-replenishing beverages that do not contain caffeine.
38 (c) “Employee” means a person who performs services for and
39 under the control and direction of an employer for wages or
40 other remuneration. The term includes an independent contractor
41 and a farm labor contractor as defined in s. 450.28.
42 (d) “Employer” means an individual, firm, partnership,
43 institution, corporation, association, or entity listed in s.
44 121.021(10) that employs individuals.
45 (e) “Environmental risk factors for heat illness” means
46 working conditions that create the possibility of heat illness,
47 including air temperature, relative humidity, radiant heat from
48 the sun and other sources, conductive heat from sources such as
49 the ground, air movement, workload severity and duration, and
50 protective clothing and equipment worn by an employee.
51 (f) “Heat illness” means a medical condition resulting from
52 the body’s inability to cope with a particular heat level. The
53 term includes heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat syncope, and
54 heat stroke.
55 (g) “Outdoor environment” means a location where work
56 activities are conducted outside. The term includes locations
57 such as sheds, tents, greenhouses, or other structures where
58 work activities are conducted inside but the temperature is not
59 managed by devices that reduce heat exposure and aid in cooling
60 such as air conditioning systems.
61 (h) “Personal risk factors for heat illness” means factors
62 specific to an individual, including his or her age; health;
63 pregnancy; degree of acclimatization; water, alcohol, or
64 caffeine consumption; use of prescription medications; or other
65 physiological responses to heat.
66 (i) “Recovery period” means a cool-down period to reduce an
67 employee’s heat exposure and aid the employee in cooling down
68 and avoiding the signs or symptoms of heat illness.
69 (j) “Shade” means an area that is not in direct sunlight.
70 (k) “Supervisor” has the same meaning as in s. 448.101.
71 (3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—
72 (a) An employer of employees who regularly work in an
73 outdoor environment shall implement an outdoor heat exposure
74 safety program that has been approved by the Department of
75 Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Department of Health
76 and that must, at a minimum:
77 1. Train and inform supervisors and employees about heat
78 illness, how to protect themselves and coworkers, how to
79 recognize signs and symptoms of heat illness in themselves and
80 coworkers, and appropriate first-aid measures that can be used
81 before medical attention arrives in the event of a serious heat
82 related illness event.
83 2. Provide preventative and first-aid measures, such as
84 loosening clothing, loosening or removing heat-retaining
85 protective clothing and equipment, accessing shade, applying
86 cool or cold water to the body, and drinking cool or cold water,
87 to address the signs or symptoms of heat illness.
88 3. Implement the following high-heat procedures, to the
89 extent practicable, when an employer, manager, supervisor, or
90 contractor determines that the outdoor heat index equals or
91 exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit:
92 a. Ensure that effective communication by voice,
93 observation, or electronic means is initiated and maintained so
94 that an employee may contact an employer, manager, supervisor,
95 contractor, or emergency medical services provider if necessary.
96 b. Provide a sufficient amount of cool or cold drinking
97 water at a location that is quickly and easily accessible from
98 the area where employees work to accommodate all employees
99 throughout the workday and remind employees throughout the
100 workday to consume such water.
101 c. Ensure that each employee takes a 10-minute recovery
102 period every 2 hours that the employee is working in an outdoor
103 environment under high-heat conditions. The recovery period may
104 be concurrent with a meal period required by law if the timing
105 of the recovery period coincides with a required meal period.
106 d. Conduct a preshift meeting each workday to review the
107 high-heat procedures.
108 (b) An employee who regularly works, or who is in the
109 process of acclimatization, in an outdoor environment shall
110 participate in the training that is provided by the employer
111 under subsection (6). An employee is responsible for monitoring
112 his or her own personal risk factors for heat illness.
113 (4) DRINKING WATER.—An employer shall ensure that a
114 sufficient quantity of cool or cold, clean drinking water is at
115 all times readily accessible and free of charge to employees who
116 work in an outdoor environment. Such drinking water shall be
117 located as close as practicable to the areas where employees
118 work. If drinking water is not plumbed or otherwise continuously
119 supplied, an employer shall supply a sufficient quantity of
120 drinking water at the beginning of the workday so each employee
121 has at least 1 quart of drinking water per hour for every hour
122 in the employee’s entire workday. An employer may supply a
123 smaller quantity of drinking water at the beginning of the
124 workday if the employer has adequate procedures in place to
125 allow the employee access to drinking water as needed so the
126 employee has at least 1 quart of drinking water per hour for
127 every hour in the employee’s entire workday.
128 (5) ACCESS TO SHADE.—
129 (a) When the supervisor determines that the outdoor heat
130 index equals or exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the employer must
131 maintain one or more areas with shade that are open to the air
132 or offer ventilation or cooling at all times in the area where
133 employees are working. The amount of shade present must be able
134 to accommodate the total number of employees participating in a
135 recovery period at one time without the employees having to be
136 in physical contact with each other.
137 (b) An employee who exhibits mild to moderate signs or
138 symptoms of heat illness shall be relieved from duty, provided
139 with access to shade for at least 15 minutes or until such signs
140 or symptoms of heat illness have abated, and monitored to
141 determine whether medical attention is necessary. If such signs
142 or symptoms do not abate within such time period, an employer
143 shall seek medical attention in a timely manner for the
144 employee. If an employee exhibits serious signs or symptoms of
145 heat illness, an employer must seek medical attention
146 immediately for the employee and provide first-aid measures.
147 (c) If an employer can demonstrate that it is unsafe or not
148 feasible to provide an area with shade, the employer may provide
149 alternative cooling measures as long as the employer can
150 demonstrate that such measures are at least as effective as an
151 area with shade in reducing heat exposure.
152 (6) TRAINING.—An employer shall provide annual training
153 that has been approved by the Department of Agriculture and
154 Consumer Services and the Department of Health for all employees
155 and supervisors in the languages understood by a majority of the
156 employees and supervisors. Such training shall be made available
157 through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and
158 the Department of Health. Training information shall be written
159 in English and translated into all languages understood by the
160 employees and supervisors. Supervisors shall make such written
161 materials available upon request.
162 (a) Training on the following topics shall be provided to
163 all employees who work in an outdoor environment:
164 1. The environmental risk factors for heat illness.
165 2. General awareness of personal risk factors for heat
166 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 immediately reporting to the employer,
178 directly or through a supervisor, signs or symptoms of heat
179 illness in the employee or a coworker, and the importance of
180 immediately receiving medical attention if the employee or
181 coworker exhibits any signs or symptoms of heat illness.
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 shall 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 this
189 section.
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 training requirements.
202 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2020.