Following what the White House called “a dangerously hot summer,” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh announced on Monday the first step toward a federal standard to protect workers from exposure to excessive heat on the job. The work on a heat safety rule would be part of a government-wide initiative to lessen the impact of hotter weather, a feature of climate change.
“As with other weather events, extreme heat is gaining in frequency and ferocity due to climate change,” said President Biden. “In fact, the National Weather Service has confirmed that extreme heat is now the leading weather-related killer in America.”
Thousands of workers are sickened each year by workplace exposure to heat. Cases are underreported, said the Labor Department. At least 43 workers died and 2,410 others had serious injuries from heat in 2019.
“A federal heat standard is long overdue,” said the United Farm Workers union on social media. “It could be a long time until meaningful protections are in place. We have also been calling for emergency action with increasing urgency.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will begin collecting ideas next month for components of a heat standard. The so-called advance notice of proposed rulemaking will seek “diverse perspectives and technical expertise on topics including heat stress thresholds, heat acclimatization planning, exposure monitoring, and strategies to protect workers,” said OSHA.
In the interim, the agency will emphasize enforcement of heat-related protections, prioritizing heat-related interventions and inspections of workplaces on days when the heat index exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Agricultural and construction workers often come to mind in discussions of heat exposure, but intense heat is a risk for indoor and well as outdoor work. A think tank estimates economic losses of $100 billion a year due to heat illnesses, and says that total could double by 2030.
The White House said the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the USDA, the EPA, and other federal agencies would work together to reduce heat-related illnesses. For example, the USDA recently issued a Forest Service guide on trees to address the effects of heat in cities.
Four states — California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington — already have workplace rules on heat safety. California was the first, in 2006. Bills are pending in Congress that would require the Labor Department to write an enforceable heat standard that includes such measures as paid work breaks in cool areas, sufficient access to water, limits on time exposed to heat, and treatment for workers with heat-related illness. Sponsors say 815 workers died and more than 70,000 were seriously injured by heat stress in the quarter-century ending in 2017.
“More and more parts of the country are experiencing record high temperatures that threaten worker safety,” said Rep. Judy Chu, a California Democrat and sponsor of a heat safety bill. “Saving a worker’s life can be as simple as requiring breaks for shade and water. But we know that too many employers do not protect their workers unless required to, even when failing to keep workers safe costs the business in lost time.”
Farmworkers often are paid by the box or pound of crop they harvest, so they are often reluctant to take a rest on their own, said an activist.
To read the White House fact sheet on heat safety, click here.