As temps hit records across the country, the Biden-Harris administration is one step closer to making it safer for workers in sweltering heat.
“Every worker should come home safe and healthy at the end of the day, which is why the Biden-Harris administration is taking this significant step to protect workers from the dangers posed by extreme heat,” says acting secretary of labor Julie Su.
A few years in the making, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a Notice Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings. The announcement follows an advanced notice of the proposed rulemaking from October 2021.
Nearly 480 workers in the U.S. died from exposure to environmental heat from 2011 to 2022, an average of 40 fatalities per year in that period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. From 2011 to 2020, there were another 33,890 estimated work-related heat injuries and illnesses that resulted in days away from work. And these numbers are considered underestimates by OSHA because of lack of reporting or misclassification.
To address these risks and ultimately prevent or reduce the number of heat-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, the new standard would apply to all employers conducting outdoor and indoor work in all general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture sectors where OSHA has jurisdiction. The standard would require employers to develop a plan to evaluate and control heat hazards and clarify employer obligations and the steps needed to protect employees from hazardous heat.
The plan would also implement requirements for drinking water, rest breaks, and control of indoor heat, and require an additional plan to protect new or returning workers unaccustomed to working in high heat conditions. Other elements of the proposed standard are noted in an agency fact sheet that also includes training for supervisors, heat safety coordinators, and employees.
“Workers all over the country are passing out, suffering heat stroke and dying from heat exposure from just doing their jobs, and something must be done to protect them,” says assistant secretary for OSHA Douglas L. Parker. “The proposal is an important next step in the process to receive public input to craft a ‘win-win’ final rule that protects workers while being practical and workable for employers.”
OSHA encourages the pubic to participate by submitting comments when the proposed standard is officially published in the Federal Register. Input will help develop a final rule that will protect workers and is feasible for employers while being based on the best available evidence.
The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) responded to the proposed rulemaking urging flexibility. “ABC continues to believe employers should equip their employees and leadership teams to develop their own safety plans, unique to their jobsites, and we strongly encourage review of all applicable OSHA rules and guidelines,” says Greg Sizemore, ABC vice president of health, safety, environment and workforce development. “We also provide tools to employers so that they can equip and empower supervisors to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat illness as well as provide necessary rest, water and shade that is dependent on local conditions.”
“Our members work to ensure that jobsites are safe and implement the most appropriate practices for working in extreme heat conditions that focus on the individual worker, based on CDC recommendations. However, those protections must be flexible in response to the fluid nature of the construction environment, and unfortunately some of the unworkable provisions in the proposed rule could weaken contractor efforts to prevent heat stress for workers,” says Sizemore. ABC will continue to review and analyze the more than 1,000 pages of the proposed rule.
With record-breaking temperatures across the nation, OSHA continues to conduct heat-related inspections under its National Emphasis Program – Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards, which launched in 2022. The program inspects workplaces with the highest exposures to heat-related hazards proactively to prevent workers from suffering injury, illness, or death needlessly.
