OSHA Releases First-Ever Regulation To Protect Workers From Heat

Earlier this month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a proposed regulation that, if finalized, would require employers to:

• Develop and implement a work site heat injury and illness prevention plan (HIIPP) with site-specific information to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplace;
• Identify heat hazards in both outdoor and indoor work sites;
• For outdoor work sites, monitor heat conditions by tracking local heat index forecasts or measuring heat index or wet bulb globe temperature;
• For indoor work sites, identify work areas with the potential for hazardous heat exposure, develop and implement a monitoring plan, and seek employee input;
• Implement control measures at or above the Initial Heat Trigger (i.e., a heat index of 80°F or a wet bulb globe temperature equal to the NIOSH Recommended Action Limit) that include providing employees with cool drinking water, break areas with cooling measures, indoor work area controls, acclimatization protocols for new and returning unacclimatized employees, paid rest breaks if needed to prevent overheating, and regular and effective two-way communication;
• Implement additional control measures at or above the High Heat Trigger that include providing employees with mandatory rest breaks of 15 minutes at least every two hours, observation for signs and symptoms of heat-related illness, a hazard alert to remind employees of key parts of the HIIPP, and warning signs at indoor work areas with ambient temperatures that regularly exceed 120°F;
• Take steps if an employee is experiencing signs and symptoms of a heat-related illness or a heat emergency, and develop a heat emergency response plan;
• Provide initial and annual refresher training for supervisors, heat safety coordinators, and employees, as well as supplemental training after changes in exposure to heat hazards, policies and procedures, or the occurrence of a heat injury or illness; and
• Have and maintain, for a minimum of six months, written or electronic records of indoor monitoring data.

All requirements would have to come at no cost to employees.

While the regulation goes through the public comment process and revisions, OSHA said it would continue to use its enforcement powers to protect workers. “The agency continues to conduct heat-related inspections under its National Emphasis Program-Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards, launched in 2022,” the press release said. “The program inspects workplaces with the highest exposures to heat-related hazards proactively to prevent workers from suffering injury, illness or death needlessly.”

Click here to read the White House fact sheet announcing this proposed regulation and here to read OSHA’s fact sheet.

In related news: in early July, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a construction company’s case against OSHA that sought to overturn 50 years of the agency’s worker safety regulations. Click here to read more about this decision and case.