Employers must take steps to protect tens of millions of American workers from extreme heat, the Biden administration said Tuesday.
In what would be the first major regulation of its kind, the new rule would provide protections to workers across the country by requiring employers to recognize heat hazards and provide “rest breaks, access to shade and water, and heat acclimation for new employees,” the White House said in a news release. Edition.
People who suffer from extreme heat at work include farm workers, delivery drivers, construction workers, gardeners, and those who make their living in warehouses, factories, and kitchens.
Under the proposal from the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the agency would establish two national heat index thresholds, taking into account both humidity and temperature.
“If the regulations become final, OSHA predicts they will affect approximately 36 million workers and significantly reduce the number of heat injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the workplace,” the statement said.
At 80 degrees Fahrenheit, employers should provide drinking water and break rooms. At 90 degrees, workers should be required to take 15-minute breaks every two hours and be monitored for signs of heat illness.
As average temperatures rise, heat illness is becoming an increasing safety risk and healthcare for employees around the world, including in the U.S. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were an average of 32 heat-related workplace deaths per year from 1992 to 2019. In 2022, there were 43 such deaths, up from 36 the year before. That said, statistics for occupational heat-related illnesses, injuries and deaths are likely “gross underestimates,” the agency said.
Among the fatalities is a 26-year-old man who past Fatal heat-related injuries while working in an open sugar cane field in Belle Glade, Florida, when the heat index reached 97 degrees, the DOL said said in April, reprimanding a contractor for failing to protect workers.
“This young man’s life ended on his first day on the job because his employer failed in its duty to protect workers from heat exposure, a known and increasingly dangerous hazard,” said Condell Eastmond, OSHA director in Fort Lauderdale, of the September death.
Extreme heat is more deadly than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combinedwhich killed more than 2,300 people in the US last year, including 350 in New York. Experts warn that heat stress can change fatal even sooner than previously thought.
According to a recent report According to Public Citizen, as many as 2,000 workers die each year in the U.S. from heat stroke, kidney failure and heat-induced cardiac arrest while working in extreme heat, and 170,000 are injured.
Five states — California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington — have workplace heat safety laws.
“Heat protection regulations are inadequate, leaving the vast majority of workers in the U.S. in 45 states without any protection from dangerously high heat on the job,” mention Juley Fulcher, Worker Health and Safety Advocate at Public Citizen.
The Department of Labor has been developing a standard for how workplaces handle heat since 2021. In 2023, OSHA will hold a meeting to hear how the proposal might impact small businesses.
Heat protection laws in the U.S. have faced continued opposition from industry, including chambers of commerce and other trade associations. Many say a blanket mandate would be difficult to implement across such a broad range of industries.
Some regulations have recently come under attack from the GOP. In the past year, Florida and Texas, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Gov. Greg Abbott, both Republicans, have passed legislation banning local governments from requiring heat protection for outdoor workers.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
