Status

On Oct. 27, 2021, OSHA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, which requested information on how to implement regulations to prevent workers from hazardous heat. ABC, as a steering committee member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, submitted comments in response to the ANPRM on Jan. 26.

On April 12, OSHA announced a National Emphasis Program on Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards, which sets out a targeted enforcement effort and reiterates OSHA’s compliance assistance and outreach efforts.

On May 3, OSHA held a virtual stakeholder meeting on initiatives to protect workers from heat-related hazards. The agency provided an overview of its heat-related initiatives and an opportunity for questions and comments from the public.

Desired Outcome

ABC strongly supports worker safety and protection from heat injury and illness. However, flexibility for employers must be maintained in any rulemaking on this issue. A regulatory approach—if adopted—must be simple and should integrate the key concepts of “water, rest, shade.” ABC also supports a separate regulatory approach for the construction industry to ensure the regulation is adaptable to the fluid nature of the construction environment.