Attorneys General from six states have requested that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration take swift action to implement national heat standards for indoor and outdoor workers.
OSHA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in October to begin accepting comments from stakeholders on the pending rulemaking. The announcement followed President Joe Biden’s announcement that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration would implement new heat standards for workers nationwide.
The attorneys general of California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania said in jointly filed comments that three states — California, Minnesota and Washington — have adopted rules to protect workers from heat-related illnesses, showing that such standards are both feasible and efficient.
“However, without national heat standards, millions of outdoor and indoor workers across the country will remain vulnerable to illness and death from occupational heat exposure,”
; they wrote. “Therefore, we urge OSHA to develop standards that specify maximum heat thresholds for both outdoor and indoor workers; require employers to implement robust preventive measures to mitigate heat-related risks to workers; improve current reporting and recordkeeping requirements; and implement other worker protection measures, such as increased workplace inspections, improved protection for vulnerable workers and protection for whistleblowers.”The comment period for the advance notice of proposed regulation closed on January 26.
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