Page 10 - OHS, July/August 2024

EDITOR’S COMMENTARY
Trying to Beat the Heat
Some key elements of OSHA’s proposed rule on heat injury and illness.
Health risks and injury due to working in hot, summer conditions are regular and serious worker safety concerns. The BLS reports that 479 workers in the U.S. died from heat exposure during
2011-2022, and there were an estimated 33,890 work-related heat injuries and illnesses during 2011-2020.
That’s not surprising given that workers around the United States—
and the globe—are witnessing record temperatures. Last year marked
the hottest year for the world since global temperature record-keeping
began in 1850. Here in the United States, the heat wave that hit the West during the first week of July 2024 broke more than 50 local temperature records.
To help address this serious worker safety issue, OSHA released its proposed “Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings Rulemaking,” the full regulatory text of which you can read at www.osha.gov/heat-exposure/rulemaking. However, let me summarize several key takeaways:
• The proposed rule goes into effect when employees are exposed to temperatures of 80oF for longer than 15 minutes in a 60-minute period. Employers must monitor for that.
• When temperatures hit a “high heat trigger” of 90oF, employers must provide a minimum 15-minute paid rest break at least every two hours. They must also implement methods such as buddy systems and employee observation to look for heat-related injuries.
• Employers must develop an injury and illness prevention plan to control heat hazards in workplaces affected by excessive heat. The plan must include an evaluation of heat risks, implementation of requirements for drinking water, rest breaks, and control of indoor heat when heat increases risks to workers, and a protection plan for new or returning workers unaccustomed to working in high heat conditions.
• Employers must provide training on heat hazard prevention and outline procedures to respond if a worker is experiencing signs and symptoms of a heat-related illness.
• Employers must take immediate action to help a worker experiencing signs and symptoms of a heat emergency. Also, they must implement specific acclimatization procedures for new and returning workers to gradually adapt them to high heat conditions.
• Employers are required to maintain records related to heat exposure and the implementation of the heat injury and illness prevention plan.
Remember, this is not a final rule; it’s a proposed rule. Anyone wishing to make comments on the proposed rulemaking has 120 days from the time it appears in the Federal Register. To do so, visit federalregister.gov, search for the rule, and find the “Submit a Formal Comment.” Also, we can expect possible legal challenges and similar pushback.
For now, it’s likely that OSHA will continue making heat injury and illness citations via the General Duty clause, and many state OSHA agencies have existing heat standards. Still, monitoring OSHA’s proposed rule will be essential.
DAVID KOPF
Publisher & Executive Editor, OH&S Magazine
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