Washington — OSHA has scheduled a virtual public hearing on its proposed rule aimed at protecting workers from heat-related illnesses.
Slated for 9:30 a.m. Eastern on June 16, the hearing will “continue on subsequent weekdays if necessary,” an agency press release states.
Anyone wanting to speak must complete a Notice of Intention to Appear form by May 2. Registration isn’t required to view the hearing, and instructions for watching will be posted on OSHA’s rulemaking webpage.
According to a notice of proposed rulemaking published on Aug. 30, employers would have to formulate and implement a heat-related illness and injury prevention plan for each worksite. That plan would need to be in writing if the employer has more than 10 employees.
Employer requirements under the standard – or the “initial heat trigger” – would go into effect when the heat index in the work area reaches 80° F or the wet bulb globe temperature is “equal to the NIOSH Recommended Alert Limit.”
Wet bulb globe temperature is a metric that combines air temperature, humidity, radiant heat from sunlight or artificial heat sources, cloud cover, the angle of the sun, and air movement such as wind speed. Unlike the heat index, which is measured in the shade, WBGT is measured in direct sunlight, according to the National Weather Service.
OSHA’s requirements include:
- Monitoring employees for heat stress
- Identifying heat hazards
- Providing water (1 quart per employee per hour) and rest breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas
- Indoor work area controls
- Acclimatization
- “Effective two-way communication” between employer and employees
- Maintenance of personal protective equipment for heat
Additional requirements – known as the “high heat trigger” – would go into effect when the heat index reaches 90° F or the WBGT is equal to NIOSH’s Recommended Alert Limit. Those requirements include hazard alerts, a minimum 15-minute paid rest break for employees every two hours, and observing employees for signs and symptoms of heat-related illness using:
- A buddy system in which co-workers monitor one another.
- Observation by a supervisor or heat safety coordinator – “with no more than 20 employees observed per supervisor or heat safety coordinator.”
- Two-way communication for lone workers.
Employers would also have to place warning signs by indoor work areas where ambient temperatures regularly exceed 120° F.
The standard wouldn’t apply to:
- Work activities for which there is “no reasonable expectation of exposure at or above the initial heat trigger.”
- Exposure at or above the “initial heat trigger” for 15 minutes or less in any 60-minute period.
- Organizations whose primary function is firefighting; emergency response activities of workplace emergency response teams, emergency medical services, or technical search and rescue; and any emergency response activities already covered under other federal laws.
- Work activities performed in indoor areas or vehicles where air conditioning keeps the ambient temperature below 80° F.
- Telework.
- Sedentary work activities at indoor work areas that only involve some combination of the following: sitting, occasional standing and walking for brief periods, and occasional lifting of objects weighing less than 10 pounds.
OSHA published a draft of the proposed rule on July 2, a day after the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs finished its review of the proposal that began almost a month earlier.
In May, OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health unanimously approved the proposed rule. The proposal was also examined by a Small Business Advocacy Review panel.
On March 19, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, sent a letter to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer calling for the withdrawal of the proposed heat rule, along with other OSHA rulemakings, by the Department of Labor.
“The committee recognizes that many burdensome regulations were developed at DOL during the Biden-Harris administration,” Walberg writes. “In your new role, I encourage you to consider the issues raised in this letter and to remain in proactive contact with the committee as other agenda items arise. I look forward to working with you and DOL during the 119th Congress.”
