- There are no federal regulations protecting workers in extreme heat.
- Biden announced plans to protect workers last week with more enforcement of heat-safety violations.
- But this kind of legislation takes years to implement, and some states have even reversed similar laws.
Millions of workers in the US have been struggling to do their jobs as the nation experiences a fierce heat wave — and new legislation may not be coming anytime soon.
Though the Biden administration has proposed federal protections, none have been finalized. This is partly due to opposition to similar proposals over the last few years from business lobbyists including construction and agriculture groups at the federal and state levels. Some argued in statements over the last two years that employers are already practicing fair labor standards and could be stretched thin if workers are allowed to take more time off.
Marc Freedman, vice president of employment policy at the United States Chamber of Commerce, told The New York Times, “I don’t think anyone is dismissing the hazard of overexposure to heat,” though he asked, “Is an OSHA standard the right way to do it? A lot of employers are already taking measures, and the question will be, what more do they have to do?”
Algernon Austin, director for race and economic justice at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Insider his reading of the situation “is that companies are focused on short-term, quarterly profits.” He added that if companies “reduce the number of hours that workers are working because of extreme heat, then they’re going to have lower output, and if they have lower output, then they’re going to have lower sales and lower profits.”
Research shows heat-related productivity losses are holding the economy back, as employees are working fewer hours and working at slower rates.
Last week, President Joe Biden announced new plans to protect workers from extreme heat, including directing the Labor Department to issue a Hazard Alert and better enforce heat-safety violations and inspections at agriculture and construction sites. As part of these plans, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration committed to invest as much as $7 million to improve the detail and accuracy of weather forecasts. In California, Colorado, and Washington, the Department of the Interior is investing $152 million on climate resilience and water storage efforts.
More than 50 Democratic and independent lawmakers introduced a bill in the House and Senate last week that would push the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to develop interim heat safety standards.
"The number 1 weather-related killer is heat. Six hundred people die annually from its effects — more than from floods, hurricanes and tornadoes in America combined," Biden said last week.
While OSHA has been working to create a national standard for workplace heat-safety rules, that process often takes years — and sometimes decades — to finalize. OSHA, which has recently increased its heat-related inspections, began developing heat standards in 2021, though some regulatory experts believe OSHA is still over two years away from putting into place a final plan.
Some Democrats have considered these plans modest, as 112 Democratic Congressmen called on the Biden administration to develop heat safety regulations for indoor and outdoor workplaces, which include protections such as water, rest breaks, and medical trainings.
"These heat waves are dangerous, they are life-threatening, and – with the devastating effects of climate change – they are only getting worse," Senator Bernie Sanders, who signed the letter, said in a statement. "I urge the administration to move quickly to create this national heat standard to protect workers on the job.
Still, with no federal regulations that protect workers in hot conditions, many workers are left to decide whether to continue subjecting themselves to extreme heat to make ends meet or reduce their hours to stay safe. Some companies have already provided more resources to employees such as cold water or new uniforms, though without nationwide regulations for water breaks or reduced hours, some workers have no choice but to brave the high temperatures.
States haven't made much progress on protecting workers, and some have even rolled back heat safety standards
Only a handful of states have passed heat-related labor protections, a perhaps surprising statistic given that in 2020, heat exposure cost the US economy around $100 billion from loss of productivity. This value is expected to grow to $500 billion by 2050. Last year, business groups sued Oregon over extreme heat worker protection rules, arguing the state overstepped its statutory authority in requiring employers to pay workers during breaks.
Texas, which has recently rolled back some legislation mandating water breaks, contributes to nearly a third of the nation's labor productivity losses, or around $30 billion.
In states including California, Michigan, and Georgia, Amazon workers have gone on strike over the company's labor practices, partly in response to complaints about heat exposure and lack of air conditioning in delivery vans. Around 340,000 UPS workers almost went on strike in part because of extreme heat — between 2015 and 2022, at least 143 UPS employees were hospitalized for heat-related issues, according to the company's Occupational Safety and Health Administration records. UPS agreed to install air conditioning in most delivery vehicles in June.
This all comes after years of proposals for workplace safety rules, such as a "national emphasis program" for heat inspections and "unprogrammed inspections" by OSHA. The Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatalities Prevention Act of 2022 called for "a standard that requires employers to implement certain measures for protecting workers from heat stress and related illnesses or injuries," though Congress never took it up.
After the OSHA announcement in 2021, some powerful lobbyist groups spoke out against the proposed changes.
"As OSHA moves forward with this process, it is imperative that OSHA avoids placing duplicative or overly burdensome regulations on our nation's producers," wrote the American Farm Bureau Federation in comments after the announcement. The AFBF added that "variances in agricultural work and climate" could make it difficult for OSHA to create solutions without imposing "onerous burdens on farmers and ranchers that will lead to economic losses."
The National Demolition Association responded that "issues of heat exposure and the means to address it on the variety of construction worksites across the country are extremely complex," adding that defining what "excessive heat" means "depends upon personal characteristics."
However, some experts believe that investments to protect workers, such as rearranging shifts or changing uniform colors, pay off since workers can be more productive in the longer run.
"The business community really needs to recognize that this is a real problem that you can't hide behind, that you absolutely have to address," Austin said. "You might as well start addressing it now rather than putting it off until you're forced to."