Bill Sponsors / Authors:

  Rep. Tracy O. King
  D - Laredo

  Sen. Morgan LaMantia
  D - South Padre Island

 

Supporting Documents / Links:

•   Fire Chief Sam Pena Opposition
  March 28, 2023

House Bill 2455 - Medical Screenings

The Houston Fire Department (HFD) secured funding to provide occupational medical examinations aligned with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1582 guidance for all uniformed personnel, at no cost to the firefighter with the initial screenings completed by fall of 2024.

House Bill 2455 would have required full-time fire departments to offer each of their fire fighters a confidential annual occupational medical evaluation at no cost to the fire fighters.

Due to the unique health and safety risks of firefighting, NFPA has developed standards on the content of occupational medical physicals for firefighters. The application of these standards should be determined by the physician rather a state agency which may not have the same level of medical expertise as NFPA.

As Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña outlined in his testimony, the introduced version of House Bill 2455 assigned the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP) with rulemaking authority despite the fact TCFP currently has no physicians on its governing board, advisory committees, or staff.

The Committee Substitute added a section that allowed for fire departments to submit annual medical examinations to TCFP that are endorsed by a physician, which addressed HFD’s concerns. It also clarified “fluid test” when it changed to specifically enumerate “blood” and “urine” tests to be specific on the examination offered.

House Bill 2455 and companion Senate Bill 1626 failed to pass.