The IBEW’s Safety and Health Department is applauding the Biden-Harris administration’s recent efforts to further protect millions of workers in the U.S. from heat-related illness and death by pressing forward on the process to create a first-ever blanket federal heat safety standard.
"It’s fantastic that the White House thinks enough of workers to push this issue into the spotlight,” said Mark MacNichol, the department’s director. “Every aspect of the IBEW has a heat safety concern.”
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| Workers who are exposed to extreme heat or who work in hot environments could be at risk of heat stress, and exposure to extreme heat can result in occupational illnesses and injuries.
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In July, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration formally proposed a federal rule requiring all employers to develop workplace heat hazard management plans that protect workers, including those who deal with equipment that can generate dangerous heat if proper cooling measures are not implemented.
“The administration came to workers on this,” the Safety and Health Department said. “It’s not just the IBEW celebrating this announcement; all of labor was involved with OSHA in crafting this proposed rule.”
Between 2011 and 2022, the last year for which Bureau of Labor Statistics data were available, there were 436 work-related deaths in the U.S. caused by environmental heat exposure, plus tens of thousands of heat-related injuries over the same period. OSHA noted that those numbers could be much higher; injuries and illnesses in the U.S. are underreported, and heat-induced illnesses or deaths are often misclassified.
If finalized, the proposed OSHA rule would mandate such workplace cooling measures as water, shade and rest breaks, along with indoor heat control actions and protections for workers in high-heat conditions, indoors and out. Employers also would be required to have procedures for acclimatizing workers to heat and for responding when workers show symptoms of heat-related illness.
“Every worker should come home safe and healthy at the end of the day, which is why the Biden-Harris administration is taking this significant step to protect workers from the dangers posed by extreme heat,” said Julie Su, the acting Secretary of Labor.
California, Washington and Minnesota have their own heat protection policies. For the rest of the country, OSHA historically has relied on its “general duty clause” to protect workers from heat hazards.
“Making heat safety a federal standard will be a real value,” the Safety and Health Department said. “The issue will no longer have to be addressed from state to state.”
Once finalized, OSHA predicts, the rule will affect about 36 million workers and could substantially reduce heat injuries, illnesses and deaths in the workplace.
Under the federal rulemaking process, after OSHA’s proposed rule is published in the Federal Register, the public will have several months to submit written comments on it.
That means the rule likely will not be finalized until sometime next year. International President Kenneth W. Cooper pointed out that whoever is in the White House then will have the power to decide whether the rulemaking process will be allowed to play out or be canceled before it can be completed.
“We’re grateful that our friends in the Biden-Harris administration have consistently listened to working people and that they are taking major steps like this right now to protect all workers from getting sick or dying on the job because of heat,” Cooper said.
A recent poll by Data for Progress showed that most likely voters, regardless of their political persuasion, worry about heat safety, too. The poll found that 84% said they are “somewhat or very concerned about workers facing extreme heat while at the workplace,” the organization said.
In the meantime, the Safety and Health Department reminds IBEW members to “follow the chain of command” whenever they feel their safety is threatened, bringing such issues to the attention of their shop steward first.
Heat Safety Resources
OSHA: Heat Illness Prevention
CDC: Heat Stress
Report an Accident: “Each L.U. shall investigate and report to the I.O. all serious lost time accidents and fatalities …. Reports shall be submitted using the web-based, electronic version of Form 173 I.B.E.W. Report of Occupational Injury, Illness and Fatality.” – Article XV, Section 15 of the IBEW Constitution