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PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Last week the Biden Administration directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, to rules protecting workers from heat illness.

Oregon and Washington are two of just five states that already have workplace rules for heat exposure.

In both states the rules clearly lay out what an employer must do:

Once the thermometer hits 80 degrees, employers have to provide shade for cooling off.
At 90 degrees, workers need a minimum 10-minute break every two hours.
At 100 degrees, those breaks go up to 15 minutes every hour.

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Multiple groups spent Saturday handing out water and checking on unhoused people as the metro area swelters under an excessive heat emergency until Tuesday.

Steve Stewart owns Landscape East and West and was involved in writing the Oregon OSHA heat rules.

“Ultimately I want to provide a safe work environment for my employees and if the medical studies show that this is what we need to do then that is what we are going to do,” said Stewart.

Oregon OSHA says that since the rules were established in 2022, 174 heat-related citations have been issued, amounting to over $110,000 in penalties.

But in the landscaping business, following the rules can mean cutting a day short and sending workers home early. “So today we will probably have the guys come in at 3:00 and tomorrow it will be 1:00,” said Stewart, explaining that once it hits 95 degrees, the economics of giving breaks cuts into the bottom line. “That’s just not economically feasible and it’s really difficult for the guys to get anything accomplished anyways.”

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Many nurseries, farms and vineyards across Oregon are working to minimize damage to fragile plants during the heat wave this week and through the summer.

And heat-related worker protections aren’t limited to those working outside, just ask Bob Meyer, a local employment rights attorney.

“This can also affect workers who are indoors, whether that be, for example, a warehouse environment, without sufficient ventilation or an office environment or retail environment where the air conditioner or ventilation isn’t working properly,” said Meyer.

He has represented clients who complained about such working conditions and were subsequently fired. Meyer says there’s always an uptick in his work during the hot summer months.

If you feel like your employer isn’t following the rules, you can file a complaint directly with Oregon OSHA on their website at oregon.osha.gov.