Safety rules to protect workers during heat waves issued by feds

Biden administration officials rolled out a long-awaited heat standard on Tuesday meant to protect workers from the deluge of heat waves and extreme weather advocates say are becoming more commonplace because of climate change.

The regulation would cover an estimated 35 million workers across the nation, though it would not go into effect until 2026, federal labor regulators said.

That could be well in the midst of a second Donald Trump term in the White House, should he be reelected in November. Trump's campaign did not return an email seeking comment for this story.

Story continues below photo gallery

And the rule, issued by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, faces an uncertain future after the U.S Supreme Court last week nixed a 40-year-old rule guiding how federal agencies enforce all manner of regulations, ranging from consumer protections to worker’s rights, food safety and environmental protections.

Twenty-two states have OSHA-approved heat standards for the private sector, according to the federal Department of Labor, which oversees OSHA. New Jersey has an OSHA-approved plan for public sector workers.

Any state that passes its own heat standard would have to create workplace rules as strict as or stricter than what OSHA puts out, under the proposal.

What the OSHA rule does

Under the federal rule, employers would have to implement measures to protect worker safety — including providing water and a cool place to rest once the combined heat and humidity levels reach 80 degrees.

Companies would also have to ease in new workers to the outdoor heat, a process known as heat acclimation.

That’s especially important since a majority of workplace heat deaths occur within a worker's first week on the job, according to senior administration officials.

When the combined heat and humidity — what’s known as the heat index — reaches 90 degrees, employers need to provide their staff paid 15-minute breaks every two hours, and occasionally check on laborers working alone.

Requirements are the same for employees working both outdoors and indoors, at job sites ranging from farms and construction sites to kitchens to warehouses.

“Workers all over the country are passing out, suffering heatstroke and dying from heat exposure from just doing their jobs, and something must be done to protect them,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker.

New Jersey's standards for heat

Labor advocates in New Jersey are pushing for a state-level standard after New Jersey was deluged by a sweltering heat wave for more than a week last month. The measure never passed the Legislature before lawmakers broke for summer in late June.

“The political environment in which the announcement is made underlines the urgency for states like New Jersey to act now and demonstrate its leadership on worker issues in the country by passing its own workplace heat standard,” said Sara Cullinane, director of the advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey, which backed the state proposal.

State business lobbyists have pushed back against a state-level proposal, saying that with OSHA’s heat standard in the pipeline, the added layer of state regulations would unnecessarily complicate doing business in New Jersey.

But the state proposal would not go into effect until next summer at the earliest, according to one amendment.

What rights do workers have?

Workers facing extreme heat while on the job can contact state agencies, including the Department of Labor, or federal agencies, such as OSHA.

Right now, most requirements are covered under what’s called the “General Duty Clause,” which means the employer needs to keep the job site free of “recognized hazards” that could kill or hurt someone.

But the goal is to make heat standards their own category, which would grant OSHA broader leeway to enforce those rules.

Expanded public education campaign

After the rules were proposed, OSHA in 2022 began a “National Emphasis Program,” in which it expanded an existing public education campaign and now inspects job sites during heat waves.

The focus is on 70 separate industries most at risk of heat illness, such as bakeries, farming, warehousing and mail delivery.

Under the 2022 announcement, inspections can start when a heat wave kicks in — when the heat index hits 80 degrees Fahrenheit — and when the National Weather Service issues a heat warning or advisory for a local area.

Federal labor officials say there have been 5,416 heat-related workplace inspections in New Jersey since the National Emphasis Program started in April 2022.

A business that blatantly disregards worker safety during a heat wave could get a citation and be hit with financial penalties.

When a heat wave occurs, inspectors go into the field and look at such factors as how a business keeps its staff from overheating; whether there’s easy access to cold water and shade; how the boss is scheduling water and rest breaks; and how new staff members are being acclimated to working in warmer weather.

“The campaign is not enforcement; the campaign is only education,” Richard Mendelson, OSHA’s regional administrator for New York and New Jersey, has said.

Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.

Email: munozd@northjersey.com ; Twitter: @danielmunoz100 and Facebook

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Safety rules to protect workers during heat waves issued by feds