Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill Aimed at Protecting Workers from Excessive Heat

Bipartisan legislation recently reintroduced in both the House and Senate would require OSHA to develop a standard to protect workers from heat-related injuries and illnesses in indoor and outdoor settings.

Lawmakers on July 16 reintroduced the Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury and Fatality Prevention Act, which would direct OSHA to enact a final rule no later than one year after a proposal is published.

The rule would include provisions for measures including access to water, emergency response for workers with a heat-related illness and limitations on worker exposure to heat. It also would require employers to provide training and hazard advisories related to heat stress in a language their workers understand.

The bill initially was introduced in July 2019 and has reappeared multiple times since. It’s named for a 53-year-old worker who died in 2004 on a California farm after 10 hours of picking grapes in temperatures as high as 105° F.

“This summer, Americans across the country are grappling with some of the hottest temperatures on record,” Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee and co-sponsor of the House bill, said in a press release. “Yet, workers in this country still have no legal protection against excessive heat – one of the oldest, most serious and most common workplace hazards.

“Heat illness affects workers in our nation’s fields, warehouses and factories, and climate change is making the problem more severe every year. This legislation will require OSHA to issue a heat standard on a much faster track than the normal OSHA regulatory process.”

Added Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), who reintroduced the bill in the Senate: “Every family deserves to know that even on the hottest day, their loved one will come back home. A national heat safety standard would provide that peace of mind and finally give workers the safety they deserve.”

On Aug. 30, OSHA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking aimed at protecting workers from heat-related illnesses. Under the proposal, employers would have to formulate and implement a heat-related illness and injury prevention plan for each worksite. That plan would need to be in writing if the establishment has more than 10 employees.

Employer requirements under the standard – or “initial heat trigger” – would go into effect when the heat index in the work area reaches 80° F or the wet bulb globe temperature is “equal to the NIOSH Recommended Alert Limit.”

The agency conducted a series of public hearings on the proposal through July 2. Anyone who filed a notice of intention to appear can comment through Sept. 30.