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More than 130 organizations and 90 individuals have petitioned OSHA to issue regulations to protect workers against heat stress.
Led by advocacy groups Public Citizen, United Farm Workers Foundations, and Farmworker Justice, the petition asks OSHA to mandate access to water, heat acclimatization plans, rest breaks, worker training, and shaded/air-conditioned areas for out 130 million affected workers.
The groups argue updated scientific information regarding heat-related illnesses and risk factors warrant new standards and guidelines from OSHA.
Outside of California, Minnesota, and Washington, no states have formal protections against heat stress.
The petition cites National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that two out of every 1,000 workers are at risk of heat stress. "This suggests that approximately 260,000 workers outside of California, Washington, and Minnesota are at risk of heat-related illnesses and deaths with no standard in place to protect them," the petition says.
Of OSHA's 84 heat enforcement cases in 2012 and 2013, the petition also says "only one of the employers had a heat acclimatization program in place" and only "42% of the employers had any heat illness prevention program at all."
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, 39 heat-related deaths occurred in 2016. Heat-related deaths also rose for the third consecutive year.
OSHA has issued informational resources on heat stress and can issue citations under its General Duty Clause. NIOSH published a Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot Environments(link is external) in February 2016.
