Should Kentucky have a heat safety law in the workplace?

FRANKFORT, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — Kentucky law does not have much to say about working in the heat. One lawmaker wants to see something on the books that will take small steps to save lives in aggressively hot weather.

“People realize it really is life or death in a lot of circumstances. And it’s a really easy thing to prevent and put these steps in place,” Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville) told FOX 56.

Armstrong called it ‘common sense,’ and something most outdoor employers should already consider when workers are in the heat.

“But for employers who maybe haven’t thought through it, who maybe don’t have a plan in place, who maybe haven’t thought about how to communicate that plan to their workers who are on site, this gives them extra support and really an extra structure to provide those protections,” Armstrong said.

This year Armstrong filed Senate Bill 183 which would have required employers in agriculture, construction, landscaping, and transportation to have a written heat illness prevention plan. However, the proposal never received a hearing. According to the National Resources Defense Council, just 5 states have an occupational heat safety law. The Kentucky Labor Cabinet does provide recommendations for employers but they’re not mandatory.

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“What this law would do is basically require employers to have a plan on when temperatures get really, really hot, how they’re going to make sure that they’re taking care of their workers, how they’re going to monitor folks for signs of heat injury or heat stroke, and how they’re going to make sure they’re providing access to those things like shade and water,” Armstrong explained.

Armstrong said for employees who have suffered heat-related illnesses or even death that Kentucky’s negligence laws would give standing for legal compensation, but she said proposals like these are so people don’t get hurt or have to go to court in the first place. Armstrong plans to file the bill again next year.

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