The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has taken a significant step on its proposed standard for indoor and outdoor heat illness prevention––on June 11, it was sent to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an interagency review of up to 90 days. After OIRA finishes its review, OSHA will publish its formal proposal for a public comment period. The text of the proposed rule is not publicly available. 

Based on the information OSHA has provided to date (see additional details below), the proposal is likely to include provisions such as temperature triggers, acclimatization requirements, mandatory rest breaks, written heat illness prevention programs, and employee training. 

Last fall, OSHA convened a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) panel of small businesses to provide input on the impact of a heat illness prevention standard. OSHA provided the panel with a range of regulatory options to consider. Those options included:

• When temperatures hit a certain level, the standard will apply. The triggers vary depending on how the temperature is measured, such as forecasted temperature, heat index, and temperature measured at the work site. There will likely be two heat index thresholds.

• For indoor worksites, OSHA may require cool-down areas, increased airflow, and ventilation requirements around fixed heat-generated sources under certain conditions or assigned heat metrics, as well as certain personal protective equipment aimed at addressing heat-related symptoms.

• Employers will be required to acclimatize workers by gradually exposing them to high temperatures to let their bodies adjust. It would apply to new workers and workers returning from vacation and other absences. There would be a tiered approach implemented allowing employees to work 50% of a shift the first day, 60% the second day, etc.

• OSHA also proposed a process requiring supervisors to monitor new and returning workers closely and implement a “buddy system.”

• Mandatory rest breaks would be required, and the duration and frequency of the breaks would increase when temperatures rise.

– Employers will be required to develop and implement a written program, including medical treatment and emergency response plans for when employees experience signs or symptoms of heat stress, illness, or injury. (Employees will have to be trained on the employer’s heat stress program, the signs and symptoms of heat stress, and how to respond when a co-worker shows symptoms.)

• Employers may be subject to new recordkeeping requirements such as maintaining records of temperature monitoring data and accident reports for heat illness and injuries, as well as written records of how new and returning employees were acclimated to the heat.

• Employers may need to establish procedures to coordinate with other employers at multi-employer worksites, such as obligating host employers to communicate heat-related protections to contractors and independent contractors, vendors, and staffing agencies, among others.

• Employer-provided vehicles or delivery trucks may be required to have air-conditioning or other cooling mechanisms when high heat triggers are reached and when employees spend most of their shift working in their vehicles.

AFS was the only metalcasting organization to have a member company participate on the SBREFA panel and provide specific information related to foundries and heat stress during the panel sessions.  In addition, AFS has held a series of webinars on heat stress over the past two years and developed a draft heat stress written plan for our small foundries to customize.

What’s Next?  

Once OIRA completes its review, the proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register and stakeholders will have an opportunity to comment on it. Typically, the formal comment period is at least 90 days.  Given the complexity of the rule, the comment period may be longer. AFS will be submitting detailed comments and obtaining input from our members.  
After analyzing those comments from a wide variety of stakeholders, OSHA must send the final version of the rule to OIRA for a second review. Depending on the outcome of the presidential election, the standard could be in place for the summer of 2025.
Meanwhile, OSHA continues to inspect workplaces under its National Emphasis Program on Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards released in 2022 to determine whether employees are adequately protected from excessive heat.