A bill co-sponsored by Orlando lawmakers would create protections for the estimated 1.8 million employees working outdoors in Florida's increasingly hot summers.
Last year -- ahead of the warmest summer on record -- the state Legislature stripped local governments of the power to protect workers from heat. That move came as Miami-Dade County was preparing to add heat safety rules for employers.
House Bill 35 would require employers with outdoor workers to have a state-approved heat exposure safety program. It mandates training, periodic breaks, drinking water, access to shade and open communication about heat conditions.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, is a co-sponsor of the bill filed by Davie Democrat Mike Gottlieb. Eskamani said the bill is needed for workers and employers.
"It's necessary with rising temperatures. It's necessary,” she said, "because Florida's largest economies involve working in these hot temperatures. And again, it's good for the worker. It would make it safer to work outside, but also, of course, mitigating risk for a business who may not have these standards in place already."
State Rep. Rita Harris, D-Orlando, is another co-sponsor. She said she heard from opponents of local rules that different county-by-county policies would be cumbersome for them -- but this bill gets around that problem.
"I think, you know, a statewide approach might be something that is a lot easier for them to sort of navigate, while also keeping workers safe," she said.
Hispanic and noncitizen workers make up a disproportionate share of Florida's outdoor employees, working in transportation, outdoor cleaning, construction and agriculture, according to analysis by the health policy nonprofit KFF.
Under the Biden Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was in the process of reviewing rules for heat injury and illness prevention. An informal public hearing was scheduled for June.
From 2011 to 2022, an average of 40 American workers a year died and 3,389 were injured from exposure to environmental heat, OSHA said in an announcement for the proposed rules. "However, these statistics for occupational heat-related illnesses, injuries, and fatalities are likely vast underestimates."
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