Florida Senate - 2022 SB 732
By Senator Rodriguez
39-00791A-22 2022732__
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 for certain
5 employers and employees; providing an exception;
6 requiring 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.—An employer of employees who
72 regularly work in an outdoor environment shall implement an
73 outdoor heat exposure safety program that has been approved by
74 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the
75 Department of Health and that must, at a minimum:
76 (a) Train and inform supervisors and employees about heat
77 illness, how to protect themselves and coworkers, how to
78 recognize signs and symptoms of heat illness in themselves and
79 coworkers, and appropriate first-aid measures that can be used
80 before medical attention arrives in the event of a serious heat
81 related illness event.
82 (b) Provide preventive and first-aid measures, such as
83 loosening clothing, loosening or removing heat-retaining
84 protective clothing and equipment, accessing shade, applying
85 cool or cold water to the body, and drinking cool or cold water,
86 to address the signs or symptoms of heat illness.
87 (c) Implement the following high-heat procedures, to the
88 extent practicable, when an employer, manager, supervisor, or
89 contractor determines that the outdoor heat index equals or
90 exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit:
91 1. Ensure that effective communication by voice,
92 observation, or electronic means is initiated and maintained so
93 that an employee may contact an employer, manager, supervisor,
94 contractor, or emergency medical services provider if necessary.
95 2. Provide a sufficient amount of cool or cold drinking
96 water at a location that is quickly and easily accessible from
97 the area where employees work to accommodate all employees
98 throughout the workday, and remind employees throughout the
99 workday to consume such water.
100 3. Ensure that each employee takes a 10-minute recovery
101 period every 2 hours that the employee is working in an outdoor
102 environment under high-heat conditions. The recovery period may
103 be concurrent with a meal period required by law if the timing
104 of the recovery period coincides with a required meal period.
105 (4) DRINKING WATER.—An employer shall ensure that a
106 sufficient quantity of cool or cold, clean drinking water is at
107 all times readily accessible and free of charge to employees who
108 work in an outdoor environment. Such drinking water shall be
109 located as close as practicable to the areas where employees
110 work. If drinking water is not plumbed or otherwise continuously
111 supplied, an employer must supply a sufficient quantity of
112 drinking water at the beginning of the workday so each employee
113 has at least 1 quart of drinking water per hour for every hour
114 in the employee’s entire workday. An employer may supply a
115 smaller quantity of drinking water at the beginning of the
116 workday if the employer has adequate procedures in place to
117 allow the employee access to drinking water as needed so the
118 employee has at least 1 quart of drinking water per hour for
119 every hour in the employee’s entire workday.
120 (5) ACCESS TO SHADE.—
121 (a) When the supervisor determines that the outdoor heat
122 index equals or exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the employer must
123 maintain one or more areas with shade that are open to the air
124 or offer ventilation or cooling at all times in the area where
125 employees are working. The amount of shade present must be able
126 to accommodate the total number of employees participating in a
127 recovery period at one time without the employees having to be
128 in physical contact with each other.
129 (b) An employee who exhibits mild to moderate signs or
130 symptoms of heat illness shall be relieved from duty, provided
131 with access to shade for at least 15 minutes or until such signs
132 or symptoms of heat illness have abated, and monitored to
133 determine whether medical attention is necessary. If such signs
134 or symptoms do not abate within such time period, an employer
135 shall seek medical attention in a timely manner for the
136 employee. If an employee exhibits serious signs or symptoms of
137 heat illness, an employer must seek medical attention
138 immediately for the employee and provide first-aid measures.
139 (c) If an employer can demonstrate that it is unsafe or not
140 feasible to provide an area with shade, the employer may provide
141 alternative cooling measures as long as the employer can
142 demonstrate that such measures are at least as effective as an
143 area with shade in reducing heat exposure.
144 (6) TRAINING.—An employer shall provide annual training
145 that has been approved by the Department of Agriculture and
146 Consumer Services and the Department of Health for all employees
147 and supervisors in the languages understood by a majority of the
148 employees and supervisors. An employee who regularly works, or
149 who is in the process of acclimatization, in an outdoor
150 environment shall participate in the training that is provided
151 by the employer. Such training shall be made available through
152 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the
153 Department of Health. Training information shall be written in
154 English and translated into all languages understood by the
155 employees and supervisors. Supervisors shall make such written
156 materials available upon request.
157 (a) Training on the following topics shall be provided to
158 all employees who work in an outdoor environment:
159 1. The environmental risk factors for heat illness.
160 2. General awareness of personal risk factors for heat
161 illness. An employee is responsible for monitoring his or her
162 own personal risk factors for heat illness.
163 3. The importance of loosening clothing and loosening or
164 removing heat-retaining protective clothing and equipment, such
165 as nonbreathable chemical-resistant clothing and equipment,
166 during all recovery and rest periods, breaks, and meal periods.
167 4. The importance of frequent consumption of cool or cold
168 drinking water.
169 5. The concept, importance, and methods of acclimatization.
170 6. The common signs and symptoms of heat illness,
171 including, but not limited to, neurological impairment,
172 confusion, or agitation.
173 7. The importance of immediately reporting to the employer,
174 directly or through a supervisor, signs or symptoms of heat
175 illness in the employee or a coworker, and the importance of
176 immediately receiving medical attention if the employee or
177 coworker exhibits any signs or symptoms of heat illness.
178 8. The employer’s outdoor heat exposure safety program and
179 related high-heat procedures.
180 (b) Training on all of the following topics shall be
181 provided to all supervisors before they are authorized to
182 supervise employees who work in an outdoor environment:
183 1. Information that must be provided to employees.
184 2. Procedures that must be followed to implement this
185 section.
186 3. Procedures that must be followed when an employee
187 exhibits or reports any signs or symptoms of heat illness.
188 4. Procedures that must be followed when transporting an
189 employee who exhibits or reports any signs or symptoms of heat
190 illness to an emergency medical services provider in a timely
191 manner.
192 (7) RULEMAKING.—The Department of Agriculture and Consumer
193 Services, in conjunction with the Department of Health, shall
194 adopt rules to implement this section, including, but not
195 limited to, approved training programs, approved trainers, and a
196 certification process to acknowledge an employer’s compliance
197 with training requirements.
198 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2022.