FIRE PROTECTION PERSONNEL INJURY DATA; RECOMMENDATIONS TO REDUCE INJURIES

(a) Pursuant to Section 417.004, the commission and the commissioner of insurance, as necessary to allow the agencies to perform their statutory duties, shall transfer information between the two agencies, including injury information from the Texas Fire Incident Reporting System and workers' compensation data showing claims filed by fire protection personnel. (b) Personally identifiable information received by the commission under this section relating to injured fire protection personnel is confidential. The commission may not release, and a person may not gain access to, any information that could reasonably be expected to reveal the identity of injured fire protection personnel. (c) The commission shall evaluate information and data on fire protection personnel injuries and develop recommendations for reducing fire protection personnel injuries. The commission shall forward the recommendations to the state fire marshal not later than September 1 of each year for inclusion in the annual report required by Section 417.0075. (d) The commission shall establish criteria for evaluating fire protection personnel injury information to determine the nature of injuries that the commission should investigate. Based on these investigations, the commission shall identify fire departments in need of assistance in reducing injuries and may provide assistance to those fire departments.