OSHA’s Heat Enforcement Actions – What Contractors Need To Know

The Proposed Standard. On July 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published their proposed standard addressing heat illness in outdoor and indoor settings. The proposal codifies many of the heat safety practices the construction industry already uses to protect workers. Those measures, which broadly fall into the categories of water, rest, shade, and training, were crafted by contractors as part of their general duty obligations to protect workers from hazards associated with high temperatures. However, OSHA has not addressed the disparate impacts of heat in various parts of the country. The impacts on worker safety of a 90°F day in Mississippi are different than a 90°F day in Alaska. The final version of the rule should take into account regional differences in weather patterns.How we got here. For the past several years, OSHA has engaged in efforts to increase enforcement and regulatory oversight of excessive heat exposures in all industry sectors with an emphasis on agriculture and construction. Beginning in late 2021, the agency issued a memorandum to regional administrators that laid out inspection guidance for heat related inspections. This was followed by the publishing of an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in October 2021, which formally began the process of promulgating a federal heat standard. In April 2022, OSHA then issued the first-ever national emphasis program (NEP) for outdoor and indoor heat related hazards to serve as an enforcement policy until or when a final rule is published. Typically, NEPs serve as temporary programs that focus OSHA's enforcement resources on a particular hazard to support an existing regulation or standard. In this case, there currently is no standard in place, so the NEP created an ambiguous set of requirements that were unsupported by any established compliance obligations. AGC Advocacy Efforts. Most recently, OSHA initiated the small business regulatory and enforcement fairness act (SBREFA) process to solicit input from small businesses regarding the impact a national outdoor and indoor heat standard will have on their operations. AGC put forward three contractor members to participate in the process that included a series of six teleconferences in September 2023 with a final report in November 2023. The information and concerns shared assisted the agency in the development of a formal notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

AGC staff have been speaking on the topic at various industry and association events and engaging with the broader membership through the national and chapter safety committees to solicit feedback specific to any concerns. The feedback received will assist AGC in developing comprehensive comments that will inform the agency's actions moving forward.

Below are some resources on the policy and highlights of AGC advocacy efforts:

OSHA Heat Enforcement Policies and Regulatory Activities

AGC Advocacy Efforts

For more information, please contact Kevin Cannon or Nazia Shah.