Bill Text: TX HB4673 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to certain heat safety protections; providing administrative and civil penalties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-22 - Referred to International Relations & Economic Development [HB4673 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB4673-Introduced.html
| By: Flores | H.B. No. 4673 | |
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| relating to certain heat safety protections; providing | ||
| administrative and civil penalties. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 2, Labor Code, is amended by | ||
| adding Chapter 53 to read as follows: | ||
| CHAPTER 53. HEAT SAFETY | ||
| Sec. 53.001. DEFINITIONS. In this section: | ||
| (1) "Commission" means the Texas Workforce | ||
| Commission. | ||
| (2) "Heat illness" means a serious medical condition | ||
| resulting from the body's inability to cope with a particular heat | ||
| load and includes heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat syncope, and | ||
| heat stroke. | ||
| (3) "Heat safety expert" means a person that: | ||
| (A) possesses a certification or educational | ||
| degree in public health, medicine, occupational safety, | ||
| environmental science, human physiology, or a related field; and | ||
| (B) performs work focused on heat safety in the | ||
| workplace. | ||
| Sec. 53.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies to the | ||
| mitigation and control of risks related to heat illness, regardless | ||
| of the location of employment, type of employment, or type of | ||
| employer. | ||
| Sec. 53.003. HEAT ILLNESS PREVENTION ADVISORY BOARD; | ||
| STANDARDS. (a) The commission shall appoint an advisory board | ||
| consisting of the following seven members: | ||
| (1) two heat safety experts; | ||
| (2) two persons employed as construction workers; | ||
| (3) one employer; | ||
| (4) one representative of a non-profit organization | ||
| engaged in worker safety issues; and | ||
| (5) one representative of a construction worker labor | ||
| union. | ||
| (b) The advisory board appointed under this section shall | ||
| develop and recommend heat illness prevention standards consistent | ||
| with this chapter and designed to protect employees from heat | ||
| illness in indoor and outdoor work. The commission shall review and | ||
| adopt the standards recommended by the advisory board under this | ||
| section for use by employers to the extent that the standards are | ||
| consistent with this chapter and other applicable law. | ||
| (c) The standards recommended by the advisory board and | ||
| adopted by the commission under this section must: | ||
| (1) be developed in a manner consistent with "Criteria | ||
| for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot | ||
| Environments" published by the National Institute for Occupational | ||
| Safety and Health; | ||
| (2) include requirements related to the provision of | ||
| drinking water, access to nearby shade or climate-controlled | ||
| environments, access to nearby restrooms and handwashing stations, | ||
| rest periods, effective emergency response procedures, | ||
| acclimatization to working in heat, training procedures for | ||
| employees and supervisors, and related standards for protection | ||
| against heat illness; and | ||
| (3) include mandatory administrative penalties of not | ||
| less than $1,000 per violation per employee for an employer's | ||
| failure to comply with heat illness prevention standards adopted | ||
| under this section, to be assessed and administered by the | ||
| commission. | ||
| Sec. 53.004. SIGNAGE REQUIRED. (a) The commission shall | ||
| produce signage in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and any other | ||
| languages that the commission determines to be appropriate | ||
| outlining: | ||
| (1) the heat illness prevention standards adopted by | ||
| the commission under this chapter; and | ||
| (2) an employee's rights under this chapter. | ||
| (b) The commission shall make the signage available for free | ||
| download by employers and the public on the commission's website. | ||
| (c) An employer shall post a copy of the signage described | ||
| by this section at its place of business in a place accessible by | ||
| the employer's employees. | ||
| Sec. 53.005. EMPLOYEE TRAINING REQUIRED. An employer is | ||
| required to provide training to each of its employees about the heat | ||
| illness prevention standards adopted under this chapter as they | ||
| relate to employees, supervisors, and employers. The training, | ||
| including any related written materials, must be provided to each | ||
| employee in a language that the employee understands. | ||
| Sec. 53.006. UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE. An employer | ||
| commits an unlawful employment practice under this chapter if the | ||
| employer retaliates or discriminates against an employee that: | ||
| (1) experiences heat illness; | ||
| (2) reports heat illness or a violation of this | ||
| chapter or other applicable standards to their employer; | ||
| (3) files a complaint with the Texas Workforce | ||
| Commission; | ||
| (4) files a lawsuit; or | ||
| (5) testifies, assists, or participates in any manner | ||
| in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this chapter. | ||
| Sec. 53.007. LIABILITY. (a) In addition to any | ||
| administrative penalties assessed under this chapter, an employee | ||
| is entitled to a private right of action in a court of appropriate | ||
| jurisdiction for an employer's failure to comply with heat illness | ||
| prevention standards adopted under this chapter. An employee is | ||
| not required to exhaust applicable alternative administrative | ||
| remedies before pursuing a private right of action under this | ||
| section. | ||
| (b) An employee that prevails in an action against an | ||
| employer under this section is entitled to recover from the | ||
| employer all court costs and reasonable attorney fees related to | ||
| the action. | ||
| (c) If the court presiding over an action filed by an | ||
| employee under this section finds that an employer knowingly | ||
| violated the heat illness prevention standards adopted under this | ||
| chapter, the court shall award the employee an amount equal to | ||
| triple the amount of damages otherwise due to the employee. | ||
| Sec. 53.008. DEADLINES FOR CERTAIN ACTIONS. (a) The | ||
| commission shall appoint the advisory board described by Section | ||
| 53.003 as soon as reasonably possible after the effective date of | ||
| this Act, but not later than October 1, 2023. | ||
| (b) The advisory board shall submit recommended standards | ||
| to the commission under Section 53.003 not later than January 1, | ||
| 2024. | ||
| (c) The commission shall adopt and publish the standards | ||
| described by Section 53.003 not later than March 1, 2024. | ||
| (d) This section expires and is repealed on January 1, 2025. | ||
| SECTION 2. Chapter 53, Labor Code, as added by this Act, | ||
| applies only to work performed on or after the adoption and | ||
| publication of the standards described by Section 53.003, Labor | ||
| Code, as added by this Act. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
