Migrant Clinicians Network’s Post

10 Steps Employers Should Take to Protect Workers this Summer as Feds Prepare to Finalize Heat Rule #EmpLaw #WorkplaceSafety

President Biden has asked the Department of Labor to issue the first-ever hazard alert for heat to provide workers with heat-related protections under federal law. Employers have a duty to make sure workers avoid heat illnesses. Read more about what actions to take to help keep your employees safe: https://bit.ly/45cIspH #equiliem #WorkplaceSafety #Heatwave

The U.S. Department of Labor has released a proposed rule intended to protect workers from excessive heat (whether outdoors or in indoor workplaces). The proposed rule is not yet in effect. It must first be published and subjected to the usual notice-and-comment period. A hearing is then expected to be conducted before any final rule is published or takes effect. (Then the usual litigation challenges may be expected to commence.) We'll be monitoring this, so stay tuned for further developments. And meanwhile, if you're an employer with concerns about #workplacesafety or other #employmentlaw issues, we at OGC can help. https://lnkd.in/eSwek_7S

Today, OSHA released a proposed rule requiring certain employers to have a heat injury and illness prevention plan ("HIIPP"). The proposed rule would require those with more than 10 employees to have a written plan. California already has similar requirements, but most states don't (including Texas, which currently prohibits local governments from imposing such requirements). Once the official version is in the Federal Register, it will be open for public comments. https://lnkd.in/gd7yScYW #construction #contractors #constructionlaw #workers #builders #employmentlaw #laborlaw #heatinjuryprevention #heatinjuryandillnesspreventionplan #californialaw #texaslaw #federallaw #osha #osharegulations

You should be able to have a water break at work..... Climate change is fueling record high temperatures, and the number of workers who die from heat exposure has doubled since the early 1990s. More than 600 people died on the job from heat between 2005 and 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Undocumented workers in outdoor industries like agriculture, landscaping, and construction who may fear retaliation for reporting unsafe working conditions, are often the most at risk.) Federal regulators call these numbers “vast underestimates”, because the health effects of heat, the deadliest form of extreme weather, are infamously hard to track. Medical examiners often misrepresent heat stress as other illnesses, like a heart attack or stroke, and some researchers estimate that the number of workplace fatalities is more likely in the thousands – every year. Yet there are almost no regulations at the local, state or federal levels across the United States to protect workers. In 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Osha, announced its intent to start the process of creating worker protections that mandate access to water, rest and shade for outdoor workers exposed to dangerous levels of heat. But it’s uncertain whether such a rule will ever be implemented, and most Osha regulations take an average of seven years to be finalized. In July, Democratic representatives introduced a bill that would force Osha to speed up this process. Previous versions of the bill have failed to secure the votes needed to pass. Five states – California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Minnesota – have enacted their own heat-related protections for workers. Jana Cholakovska and Nate Rosenfield The Guardian #protectivelegislation #workplacesafety #rights #employeesafety https://lnkd.in/edJhUtzi

https://lnkd.in/g6UtR9Jf 110+ Dems Push Biden Admin to Enact New Worker Protections Amid 'Dire Threat' of Extreme Heat KENNY STANCIL Jul 24, 2023 ..."Protection from extreme heat is a matter of life and death for many workers and their families across the United States," says a letter the lawmakers sent to Julie Su, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and Douglas Parker, the DOL's assistant secretary for occupational safety and health. The letter calls for "the fastest possible implementation of an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace heat standard to ensure that millions of people can go to work with greater confidence that they will return to their families alive and uninjured." Public Citizen estimates that exposure to extreme heat kills up to 2,000 workers and causes at least 170,000 injuries each year in the U.S. alone. The risks and consequences of heat stress are borne overwhelmingly by low-income employees, and farmworkers are particularly vulnerable to its deadly effects. According to the progressive advocacy group, an effective OSHA heat standard would save lives and prevent at least 50,000 injuries annually."...

It's (not) a dry heat. As we strive to enjoy the July 4 Holiday Weekend, we are reminded of the fact that heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths -- not just in Arizona, but across the Nation. The Department of Labor has released a proposed rule to expand the federal government's authority to compel employers to address heat risks and hazards in the workplace. This includes providing water, rest breaks, and controlling indoor heat. While this proposed rule is receiving comment, OSHA's General Duty Clause 29 U.S.C. 654(a)(1) and state and local ordinances, and good sense, compel businesses to address these issues. What is your business doing right now? Let us know how we can help. #osha #heatatwork #workplacesafety #employmentlaw https://lnkd.in/gWpyzajS

You know those EU laws... which address labour exploitation, safety etc... often targeted at Global South nations? It's time to include the USA. There's very little protection for workers in the USA - and it's mind boggling that some state governors block legislation to protect workers against heat. #WorkerExploitation #HealthAndSafety https://lnkd.in/e6WSi9gi

https://lnkd.in/eDTDbiKh How federal law can protect all workers on sweltering summer days By Tom Conway -July 17, 2023 ..."Fortunately, as members of the United Steelworkers (USW), these workers negotiated a policy requiring the chemical treatment company to provide shade, cool-down periods, and other measures to protect them during sweltering days. But unless all Americans have commonsense safeguards like these, workers across the country will continue to get sick and die during ever-worsening heat waves. The USW, other unions, and advocacy groups are calling on the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to speedily enact a national standard specifying the minimum steps all employers need to take to safeguard workers from unprecedented and deadly bouts of heat. Because of union advocacy, OSHA already has national standards that protect workers from falls, trench collapses, asbestos exposure, infectious diseases, injuries from equipment, and many other workplace hazards. It’s way past time to also protect workers from the heat waves that are growing more severe, lasting longer, and claiming more lives each year. “Heat affects everybody. It doesn’t care about age,” observed Hayes, president of USW Local 227’s Ecoservices unit, who helped to negotiate the heat-related protections for about 70 workers in treatment services, maintenance, logistics, and other departments. “There’s so many things they can come up with,” he said of OSHA officials. The policy the union negotiated with Ecoservices requires low-cost, sensible measures like water, electrolytes, modified work schedules, tents and fans, and the authority to stop work when conditions become unhealthy and unsafe. “If you start to feel dizzy or lightheaded, take your timeout,” Hayes reminds coworkers. “Don’t worry about it.” In 2021, OSHA initiated efforts “to consider a heat-specific workplace rule.” In the meantime, states and local governments are free to make their own rules, let workers fend for themselves, or even put workers at greater risk. While workers everywhere would benefit from a national heat standard, nowhere is the need more obvious than in Texas. It’s one of the states hardest hit by the heat wave now blistering much of the country, with cities like Junction and Laredo shattering heat records. Worse, in the midst of the crisis, right-wing Governor Greg Abbott signed a new law sweeping aside city and county ordinances mandating water breaks for construction workers. The so-called “Death Star law” is nothing but blatant pandering to Abbott’s corporate cronies at the expense of workers’ lives."...

Just a few facts for those who think that workers don't need protection from extreme heat. In a September 2023 article, the author stated: "Heat was the underlying or contributing cause of about 1,670 deaths nationwide in 2022, for a rate of about 5 deaths per million residents, according to provisional data from the CDC. That’s the highest heat-related death rate in at least two decades. Data from this year, which has been exceptionally hot in much of the country, is not yet available. The next-highest death rate was logged in 2021. Heat-related illness ranges from heat exhaustion, which causes heavy sweating and a rapid pulse, to heatstroke, which causes confusion, loss of consciousness, high fever, and in many of the severest cases even death. Heat-related illness can occur alongside and exacerbate other health conditions."