The construction industry is still awaiting heat standards from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, even as temperatures in large sections of the country have this summer hit record levels.
According to a recent Construction Dive piece, “sweltering conditions means an additional job site hazard” for construction workers. Those sweltering conditions have led to the death of up to 2,000 workers annually in a variety of industries.
Even so, the publication notes that OSHA has yet to release any enforceable standard for “protecting workers during extreme heat that contractors can look to for guidance.”
The agency has, however, been in the process of soliciting public and industry feedback pertaining to a proposed rule designed to protect workers from extreme heat situations.
What is called an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Heat Industry and Illness Prevention was issued in the fall of 2021, asking companies to describe what if any heat illness and prevention plans and programs they had in place, while also looking at the amount of engineering and administrative controls, as well as type of personal protective equipment in use.
Late last month an OSHA spokesperson told the publication Safety & Health that the agency has launched a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act panel review designed to look at what heat rules may eventually be promulgated and studying their likely effectiveness.
The spokesperson indicated that the review is the next step before OSHA publishes a proposed standard. On the way to that step, OSHA has said it is interested in getting input not just from the construction industry, but also officials in the agriculture, landscaping, warehousing, and utilities sectors.
For now, notes David Michaels, former OSHA assistant secretary, the agency has “no rule requiring protection from extreme heat.”
Writing in The Atlantic, Michaels asserts: “How to prevent heat illness and death is no mystery. Provide workers with adequate rest breaks in the shade or a cool area where they can rehydrate.”
But Michaels predicts that “OSHA is unlikely to require these basic protections any time soon,” and partly faults Congress for not providing the resources needed for the agency to enforce an effective heat rule.
For now, OSHA plans to convene the small business review panel sometime in late August.
By Garry Boulard
