The Florida State Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit local agencies from implementing heat protections for workers. The GOP-controlled Senate voted 28-11 to pass the bill, which would…
No it looks like it’s a ban on regulatory authorities from mandating heat protections on companies that go above state mandates. It reads to me like companies could still provide them, but are under no obligation to provide anything above the state mandates minimum. The headline is poorly written.
When they say agencies they mean local government bodies.
It’s specifically a ban on sub-state-level political subdivisions mandating protections beyond what the state level does. But the state of Florida doesn’t have any mandated protections, so it would be whatever OSHA says, and OSHA doesn’t either. Miami required employers to provide water breaks and the ghouls freaked out. I can’t imagine the level of dysfunction in Florida.
Well… OSHA does and it does not, While OSHA does not have any standard in the OSH act there is a clause 5A1 that more or less says “you cant make your employees do something that is dangerous” so an OSHA inspector can cite them for that… and that is how heat is regulated by OSHA under that status quo… but that means its more or less up to the inspector, and how much extra paperwork they are willing to do
I think its safe to assume that companies (in Florida, using exploitative labor already) will spend as little as possible on the safety of their employees
I don’t get it. Shouldn’t it be at least optional?
Edit: now that I read it, the ban is on municipalities mandating these protections.
Maybe I misunderstood it a bit, but it seems like any business that goes above the minimum required by state law could be punished for it.
No it looks like it’s a ban on regulatory authorities from mandating heat protections on companies that go above state mandates. It reads to me like companies could still provide them, but are under no obligation to provide anything above the state mandates minimum. The headline is poorly written.
When they say agencies they mean local government bodies.
It’s specifically a ban on sub-state-level political subdivisions mandating protections beyond what the state level does. But the state of Florida doesn’t have any mandated protections, so it would be whatever OSHA says, and OSHA doesn’t either. Miami required employers to provide water breaks and the ghouls freaked out. I can’t imagine the level of dysfunction in Florida.
Well… OSHA does and it does not, While OSHA does not have any standard in the OSH act there is a clause 5A1 that more or less says “you cant make your employees do something that is dangerous” so an OSHA inspector can cite them for that… and that is how heat is regulated by OSHA under that status quo… but that means its more or less up to the inspector, and how much extra paperwork they are willing to do
Ah ok, not as cartoonishly evil as I thought, but still pretty awful.
I think its safe to assume that companies (in Florida, using exploitative labor already) will spend as little as possible on the safety of their employees