![]() ![]() This is a significant step toward a federal heat standard to ensure protections in workplaces across the country. Launching a rulemaking process to develop a workplace heat standard: OSHA is announcing today the issuance of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on heat illness prevention in outdoor and indoor work settings.To better protect heat-exposed workers, OSHA is: Too often, heat-induced injuries and illnesses are misclassified or not reported, especially in sectors that employ vulnerable and undocumented workers. Workers in agriculture and construction are often at highest risk, but the problem affects all workers exposed to heat, including indoor workers without climate-controlled environments. Heat is a growing workplace hazard, with the climate crisis making extreme heat more frequent and severe. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for setting and enforcing standards to ensure safe, healthy working conditions. Specifically, the Biden Administration is announcing a whole-of-government approach to address extreme heat by:ĭeveloping Workplace Heat Standards and Increasing Enforcement These actions would also supplement President’s Build Back Better Agenda, which includes historic funding levels to support resilient communities and improve the assessment and mitigation of climate-related impacts like extreme heat. The Biden Administration’s Interagency Working Group on Extreme Heat will continue to coordinate a holistic response.Other new and recent agency actions will provide cooling assistance to households use schools as cooling centers launch a heat resilience innovation challenge address social vulnerabilities and disproportionate impacts reduce urban heat through tree cover and improve local preparedness through data-sharing.The Department of Labor is launching a multi-prong initiative on occupational heat exposure to protect outdoor workers, including agricultural, construction, and delivery workers, as well as indoor workers, including those in warehouses, factories, and kitchens.The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Agriculture the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are announcing a set of actions that will reduce heat-related illness, protect public health, and support the economy: Recognizing the seriousness of this threat, the Biden Administration is taking immediate action on heat hazards to protect workers and communities as part of a broader commitment to workplace safety, climate resilience, and environmental justice. Heat also poses higher risks in urban centers and to children, seniors, economically disadvantaged groups, and those with underlying health conditions. workers are exposed to heat in their workplaces, and essential jobs with high exposure levels are disproportionately held by Black and Brown workers. Climate scientists have concluded that this heat wave would have been virtually impossible without climate change. During the June 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, states reported hundreds of excess deaths and thousands of emergency room visits for heat-related illness. The climate crisis is making heat waves more intense and frequent – endangering workers and communities. The United States experienced a dangerously hot summer this year, breaking records last set during the Dust Bowl. But heat is the nation’s leading weather-related killer. While climate-related disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and floods produce dramatic images of devastation, extreme heat often takes place out of sight and out of the news. Today, President Biden is launching a coordinated, interagency effort to respond to extreme heat that threatens the lives and livelihoods of Americans, especially workers, children, and seniors. New Initiatives at OSHA and Across Agencies Will Enhance Workplace Safety, Build Local Resilience, and Address Disproportionate Heat Impacts ![]() Get Involved Show submenu for “Get Involved””.The White House Show submenu for “The White House””. ![]()
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