The Florida Senate

¹442.102  Definitions; ss. 442.101-442.127.--As used in ss. 442.101-442.127, the term:

(1)  "Article" means a finished product or manufactured item:

(a)  Which is formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture;

(b)  Which has end use functions dependent in whole or in part upon its shape or design during end use; and

(c)  Which does not release, or otherwise result in exposure to, a toxic substance under normal conditions of use.

(2)  "Chemical name" means the scientific designation of a substance in accordance with the nomenclature system developed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry or the system developed by the Chemical Abstracts Service.

(3)  "Common name" means any designation or identification such as a code name, code number, trade name, or brand name that is used to identify a substance other than its chemical name.

(4)  "Department" means the Department of Labor and Employment Security.

(5)  "Designated representative" means an employee's treating physician who is authorized in writing by the employee, and the employee's collective bargaining agent who is certified or recognized by the employer of the employee. No other individual or organization is eligible to serve as a designated representative.

(6)  "Distributor" means an individual or employer, other than the manufacturer or importer, who supplies toxic substances directly to users or to other distributors.

(7)  "Employee" means any person employed on or after the effective date of this act who is, has been, or may be exposed under normal operating conditions or foreseeable emergencies to any toxic substance in the employer's workplace.

(8)  "Employer" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, or other entity engaged in a business or in providing services, including the state and any of its political subdivisions, that manufactures, produces, uses, applies, or stores toxic substances. An independent contractor or subcontractor shall be deemed the sole employer of her or his employees, even when her or his employees are performing work at the workplace of another employer. The term "employer" does not include:

(a)  Employers employing two or fewer employees.

(b)  Employers of domestic workers in private homes.

(c)  Bona fide farmers or an association of farmers employing employees in agricultural labor performed on a farm, or in the onsite packing facilities for agricultural products from such farms, who employ 12 or fewer regular employees and who employ 24 or fewer other employees at one time for seasonal or occasional agricultural labor that is completed in less than 30 continuous days, provided such seasonal or occasional employment does not exceed 60 days in the same calendar year. The term "farm" includes stock, dairy, poultry, fruit, fur-bearing animal, fish, and truck farms, ranches, nurseries, and orchards. The term "agricultural labor" includes field foremen, timekeepers, checkers, and other farm labor supervisory personnel.

(d)  Employers of professional athletes, such as professional boxers and wrestlers and professional baseball, football, basketball, hockey, polo, tennis, jai alai, and similar players.

(e)  Employers employing labor under court sentences requiring the performance of community services as provided in s. 316.193.

(9)  "Expose" or "exposure" means any situation arising from or related to the work operation of an employer in which an employee may inhale, absorb through the skin or eyes, accidentally ingest, or otherwise come into contact with a toxic substance.

(10)  "Florida Substance List" means a compilation of toxic substances which are to be subject to the provisions of ss. 442.101-442.127.

(11)  "Health professional" means a physician, industrial hygienist, toxicologist, epidemiologist, or occupational health nurse.

(12)  "Importer" means the first individual or employer within the customs territory of the United States who receives toxic substances produced in other countries for the purpose of supplying them to distributors or users within the United States.

(13)  "Impurity" means a toxic substance which is unintentionally present with another substance or mixture.

(14)  "Manufacturer" means a person who produces, synthesizes, extracts, or otherwise makes toxic substances.

(15)  "Material safety data sheet" or "MSDS" means written or printed material concerning a toxic substance which sets forth the following information:

(a)  The chemical name and the common name of the toxic substance.

(b)  The hazards or other risks in the use of the toxic substance, including:

1.  The potential for fire, explosion, corrosivity, and reactivity;

2.  The known acute health effects and chronic health effects of risks from exposure to the toxic substance, including those medical conditions which are generally recognized as being aggravated by exposure to the toxic substance; and

3.  The primary routes of entry and symptoms of overexposure.

(c)  The proper precautions, handling practices, necessary personal protective equipment, and other safety precautions in the use of or exposure to the toxic substances, including appropriate emergency treatment in case of overexposure.

(d)  The emergency procedures for spills, fire, disposal, and first aid.

(e)  A description of the known specific potential health risks posed by the toxic substance, which description is written in lay terms and is intended to alert any person who reads this information.

(f)  The year and month, if available, that the information was compiled and the name, address, and emergency telephone number of the manufacturer responsible for preparing the information.

(16)  "Medical emergency" means a serious medical condition which poses an imminent threat to a person's health; which was caused, or is suspected to have been caused, by exposure to a toxic substance; and which requires immediate treatment by a physician.

(17)  "Mixture" means any combination of two or more substances if the combination is not, in whole or in part, the result of a chemical reaction.

(18)  "Produce" means to manufacture, process, formulate, or repackage.

(19)  "Secretary" means the Secretary of Labor and Employment Security.

(20)  "Specific chemical identity" means a chemical name, a Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry Number, or any other specific information which reveals a precise chemical designation.

(21)  "Toxic substance" means any chemical substance or mixture in a gaseous, liquid, or solid state, which substance or mixture causes a significant risk to safety or health during, or as a proximate result of, any customary or reasonably foreseeable handling or use; which is listed in the Florida Substance List compiled in accordance with the provisions of s. 442.103; and which is manufactured, produced, used, applied, or stored in the workplace.

(22)  "Trade secret" means any confidential formula, pattern, process, device, information, or compilation of information, including a chemical name or other unique chemical identifier, that is used in an employer's business and that gives the employer an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use the formula, pattern, process, device, information, or compilation of information.

(23)  "Work area" means a room or defined space in a workplace where toxic substances are manufactured, produced, used, applied, or stored and where employees are present in the course of their employment.

(24)  "Workplace" means an establishment or business of an employer at one geographic location at which work is performed and which contains one or more work areas. In the case of the state or any of its political subdivisions acting as an employer, the workplace is defined as all work areas wholly owned or controlled by the state or the subdivision. In the case of an independent contractor or subcontractor, the workplace is defined as all work areas wholly owned or controlled by the independent contractor or subcontractor.

History.--s. 2, ch. 84-223; s. 1, ch. 86-45; s. 1, ch. 87-202; s. 132, ch. 97-103; s. 14, ch. 99-240.

¹Note.--Repealed July 1, 2000, by s. 14, ch. 99-240.