OSHA Petitioned to Create Heat-Protection Standard

Working in extreme heat isn't just exhausting; it's bad for your health. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than three dozen U.S. workers died as a result of heat exposure in 2015 and 2,830 more sustained nonfatal injury from heat.  And while there are safeguards designed to protect workers from heat-related illness, many people believe that it's not enough. As a result, more than 100 organizations and nearly an equal amount of individuals have petitioned the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to create a new standard to protect workers from heat-related illness.

The 45-page petition, available here, is led by the public safety advocacy group Public Citizen. In the petition, Public Citizen recommends that OSHA create a heat-related illness standard to protect outdoor workers' health. Among other things, Public Citizen says that OSHA should include breaks in its standard, allowing workers to cool off after working in extreme heat for a given period of time. 

Public Citizen also says that OSHA should require employers to provide workers with heat-related personal protective equipment (PPE). Of course, employers are already required to provide workers with PPE. This proposed standard, however, would require employers to provide workers with PPE that's specifically designed to protect against heat-related illness. Examples of such PPE include water-cooled garments, sunglasses and hats.

"It is now more than 47 years since the OSH Act went into effect, and three states with their own state OSHA plans—California, Washington, and Minnesota—have subsequently implemented some form of protective heat standards for their workers. But approximately 130 million workers in the rest of the country lack the protections of a national OSHA heat standard. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a component of the Centers for Disease," wrote the Public Citizen in its petition to OSHA.

Heat-related illness isn't expected to fade from the modern workplace anytime soon. Anyone who works outdoors during the summer may be exposed to illness-causing heat. And to make matters worse, Public Citizen says that rates of heat-related illness among workers will likely increase in the following years.

Being that Public Citizen just recently sent the petition to OSHA, there's still no word yet on how OSHA will respond. However, many experts believe that it's only a matter of time until OSHA addresses the issue of heat-related illness by creating a new safety standard.