OSHA has finally announced its long-anticipated proposed rule for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings. While it must clear several hurdles still to become a final rule, it’s worth understanding where OSHA is headed with its guidance on heat regulations.
Heat injury and illness are currently covered under the General Duty Clause, which protects workers from “recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm.”
As proposed, the new OSHA heat standard would require employers with more than 10 employees to:
Because the proposal still faces challenges or changes, we won’t dive deeply into the specifics quite yet. You can find a summary of details in this article from Morgan Lewis or this article from Ogletree Deakins. Or, you can read the full Department of Labor notice for rulemaking (just a warning that it’s 437 pages long!).
It’s worth noting that the proposal’s outcome could be influenced by results of the upcoming election. Furthermore, a final heat rule could also be challenged in court.
However, the OSHA heat standard review plays out, it’s clear that the Department of Labor has a focus on heat injury. The regulatory body has been carrying out heat-related inspections using the National Emphasis Program (NEP)—Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards. Since 2022, this initiative (using Section 5(a)(1) (the General Duty Clause) has produced more than 5,000 federal heat-related inspections.
Regardless of whether the new rule takes effect as proposed, you should consider reviewing and updating your company’s heat illness prevention programs to address heat hazards and minimize enforcement risk. A comprehensive review should evaluate whether the elements OSHA proposes are included in your existing plan, and modify it to include those details your current plan does not.
Updating the company’s Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Plan to align with OSHA’s proposed changes can strengthen your compliance efforts and reduce the likelihood of OSHA pursuing a heat-related violation under the General Duty Clause.
One way or another, OSHA will continue to crack down on heat illness and injury. The preamble for the proposed rule notes that heat is “the leading cause of death among all weather-related phenomena in the United States.”
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