OSHA Publishes Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Heat Standards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has published in the Federal Register an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) of heat standards. It reads:

“OSHA is initiating rulemaking to protect indoor and outdoor workers from hazardous heat and is interested in obtaining additional information about the extent and nature of hazardous heat in the workplace and the nature and effectiveness of interventions and controls used to prevent heat-related injury and illness. This ANPRM provides an overview of the problem of heat stress in the workplace and of measures that have been taken to prevent it. This ANPRM also seeks information on issues that OSHA can consider in developing the standard, including the scope of the standard and the types of controls that might be required. Submit comments on or before December 27, 2021.”

For more information, visit here.

The ANPRM is a long time coming. In 2019, U.S. Congressional Representative Judy Chu (D-California) introduced H.R. 3668, which directed OSHA to issue a national standard to protect workers from heat-related injuries and illnesses.

OSHA’s only standard pertaining to heat-related safety is its General Duty Clause, which states that employers are responsible for providing workplaces free of known safety hazards. “This includes protecting workers from extreme heat,” reads OSHA’s Heat Illness Prevention page.