Keeping Workers Safe from Heat-Related Illnesses & Injuries
Employers can no longer afford to not consider high heat hazards.
- By Dennis Capizzi
- Jun 01, 2022
The requirements and standards for helping to keep workers safe in hot environments are, well, heating up. This includes team members who must work outside in the sun. Of course, the health and safety of workers has been a chief concern for businesses for quite some time. Even so, the OSHA has started ramping up efforts to increase legislation and standards to ensure worker safety in hot environments by issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM). It's doing this in concert with the current administration's interagency efforts.
A September 20, 2021, statement on Whitehouse.gov titled “FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Mobilizes to Protect Workers and Communities from Extreme Heat,” confirmed this: "New initiatives at OSHA and across agencies will enhance workplace safety, build local resilience, and address disproportionate heat impacts."
"The United States experienced a dangerously hot summer this year, breaking records last set during the Dust Bowl. The climate crisis is making heat waves more intense and frequent – endangering workers and communities. During the June 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, states reported hundreds of excess deaths and thousands of emergency room visits for heat-related illness,” an excerpt from the factsheet explained. “Recognizing the seriousness of this threat, the Biden Administration is taking immediate action on heat hazards to protect workers and communities as part of a broader commitment to workplace safety, climate resilience, and environmental justice. The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Agriculture; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are announcing a set of actions that will reduce heat-related illness, protect public health, and support the economy."
Although the interagency taskforce will look at initiatives for both workplace and community extreme heat-related situations and scenarios, here are some of the plans that relate directly to the development of OSHA workplace heat standards and increasing enforcement.
- Launching a rulemaking process to develop a workplace heat standard
- Implementing an enforcement initiative on heat-related hazards
- Developing a National Emphasis Program on heat inspections
- Forming a heat work group to engage stakeholders and inform ongoing efforts
This article originally appeared in the June 2022 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.