(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) has taken an important step in addressing the dangers of workplace heat and moved closer to publishing a proposed rule to reducing the significant health risks of heat exposure for U.S. Workers in outdoor and indoor settings. 

On April 24th (2024), the USDOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) presented the draft rule’s initial regulatory framework at a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. 

The Committee, which advises the agency on safety and health standards and policy matters, unanimously recommended OSHA move forward expeditiously on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

As part of the rulemaking process, the agency will seek and consider input from a wide range of stakeholders and the public at-large as it works to propose and finalize its rule.

In the interim, OSHA continues to direct significant existing outreach and enforcement resources to educate employers and Workers and hold businesses accountable for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s General Duty Clause - 29 U.S.C. § 654(a)(1) and other applicable regulations.

Record breaking temperatures across the Nation have increased the risks people face on-the-job, especially in Summer months.

Every year, dozens of Workers die and thousands more suffer illnesses related to hazardous heat exposure that, sadly, are most often preventable.

Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said: “Workers at risk of heat illness need a new rule to protect Workers from heat hazards.  OSHA is working aggressively to develop a new regulation that keeps Workers safe from the dangers of heat.  As we move through the required regulatory process for creating these protections, OSHA will use all of its existing tools to hold employers responsible when they fail to protect Workers from known hazards such as heat, including our authority to stop employers from exposing Workers to conditions which pose an imminent danger.”

To Directly Access This Labor News Story In Its Entirety, Go To: Department of Labor takes critical step in heat safety rulemaking, continues heightened enforcement efforts, focuses on dangers to agricultural workers | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)

Click Here To Learn More About Working In Outdoor And Indoor Heat Environments.