Variety of groups push for OSHA heat standard

September 11th, 2018 by Dakota Software Staff

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration develops and enforces a wide variety of standards, from those that affect a majority of workers across the country to highly specialized requirements relevant only to employees in a specific industry. However, despite OSHA's crafting of specific rules tied to everything from working at heights to safely handling beryllium, there's one nearly universal consideration where the federal regulator hasn't set certain limits: heat exposure.

High temperatures can hurt workers, but aren't specifically regulated by OSHA.

Push for heat exposure standards brings together variety of groups

A wide range of individuals and groups, championed by advocacy organization Public Citizen, have come together to support a push for a heat protection standard. Construction Dive pointed to a list of petition signers that included two former OHSA leaders, doctors and other medical professionals, worker welfare groups and a variety of individuals.

Specifics of the petition requesting the OSHA rule change include a desire for mandated rest breaks between 15 and 45 minutes, depending on the severity of the heat encountered. Improving access to shade and personal protective equipment that keeps employees' temperature well regulated, such as cooling vests and appropriate clothing, is also present. A variety of other requests, from specific warning signage to heat monitoring and training, are also present.

The push for a heat standard is especially relevant in the face of a recent OSHA complaint filed by a group of employees at a Memphis, Tennessee, distribution center. Local Fox affiliate WHBQ said the workers at the facility brought the complaint due to a variety of heat-related incidents and a lack of protective measures implemented by the facility operator. The workers noted an absence of cooling breaks and the absence of work adjustments in the face of potential health issues related to the heat.

Although OSHA has a number of guidelines in place related to keeping employees safe from heat, the strongest rule tied to protection from temperature and humidity rest in the General Duty Clause. That rule requires businesses to keep workers protected when they face recognizable hazards. Despite a lack of specific temperature limits or exposure timeframes for workers, companies still have to use common-sense decision-making to keep employees protected when they face heat exposure and the various hazards that come along with it.