Florida § 633.522 - Firefighter employers; high frequency of work-related injuries; corrective plans; workplace safety committees and coordinators; failure to implement a safety and health program; cancellation.

§ 633.522. Firefighter employers; high frequency of work-related injuries; corrective plans; workplace safety committees and coordinators; failure to implement a safety and health program; cancellation.

(1) The division shall develop a means to identify individual firefighter employers with a high frequency of firefighter employee work-related injuries and suicide. The division shall conduct safety inspections of those firefighter employers so identified to ensure compliance with this part or the division’s rules and make recommendations based upon current safety and health practices and to assist such firefighter employers in reducing the number of work-related injuries and suicide. The division may not assess penalties as a result of such inspections. Copies of any report made as the result of such an inspection shall be provided to the firefighter employer and its insurer. Firefighter employers shall submit a plan for the correction of any noncompliance issues to the division for approval in accordance with division rule. The division shall promptly review the plan submitted and approve or disapprove the plan within 60 days, or such plan shall be deemed approved. Upon approval by the division, the plan shall be implemented by the firefighter employer. If the plan is not submitted, does not provide corrective actions for all deficiencies, is not complete, or is not implemented, the fire service provider shall be subject to s. 633.526. (2) In order to promote health and safety in firefighter employee places of employment in this state: (a) Each firefighter employer of 20 or more firefighter employees shall establish and administer a workplace safety committee in accordance with rules adopted under this section. (b) Each firefighter employer of fewer than 20 firefighter employees with a high frequency or high severity of work-related injuries or a high frequency of work-related fatalities, as identified by the division, shall establish and administer a workplace safety committee or designate a workplace safety coordinator who shall establish and administer workplace safety activities in accordance with rules adopted under this section. (3) The division shall adopt rules: (a) Prescribing the membership of the workplace safety committees so as to ensure an equal number of firefighter employee representatives who are volunteers or are elected by their peers and firefighter employer representatives, and specifying the frequency of meetings. (b) Requiring firefighter employers to make adequate records of each meeting and to file and to maintain the records subject to inspection by the division. (c) Prescribing the duties and functions of the workplace safety committee and workplace safety coordinator which include, but are not limited to: 1. Establishing procedures for workplace safety inspections by the committee. 2. Establishing procedures for investigating all workplace accidents, safety-related incidents, illnesses, and deaths. 3. Evaluating accident prevention, illness prevention, and suicide prevention programs. 4. Prescribing guidelines for the training of safety committee members. (4) The composition, selection, and function of workplace safety committees shall be a mandatory topic of negotiations with any certified collective bargaining agent for firefighter employers that operate under a collective bargaining agreement. Firefighter employers that operate under a collective bargaining agreement that contains provisions governing the formation and operation of workplace safety committees that meet or exceed the minimum requirements contained in this section, or firefighter employers who otherwise have existing workplace safety committees that meet or exceed the minimum requirements established by this section, are in compliance with this section. (5) Firefighter employees shall be compensated their regular hourly wage while engaged in workplace safety committee or workplace safety coordinator training, meetings, or other duties prescribed under this section. (6) If a firefighter employer fails to implement a corrective plan, the insurer or self-insurer’s fund that is providing coverage for the firefighter employer may cancel the contract for insurance with the firefighter employer. In the alternative, the insurer or fund may terminate any discount or deviation granted to the firefighter employer for the remainder of the term of the policy. If the contract is canceled or the discount or deviation is terminated, the insurer must make such reports as are required by law.