On August 30, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published the agency’s first proposed indoor and outdoor heat illness prevention rule. Although a final rule is not expected until 2025, California employers may be wondering how a national heat illness prevention rule would impact their compliance obligations with California’s current outdoor and indoor heat illness prevention rules.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) enforces California’s heat illness prevention standards — the outdoor heat illness prevention rules have been on the books for almost a decade while the indoor heat illness prevention rules became effective on July 25, 2024.
The proposed federal rule addresses both indoor and outdoor places of employment in very similar ways as the California standards. For example, when certain worksite temperatures are reached, the proposed federal rule requires employers to provide drinking water, shade for outdoor worksites, cooled break areas for indoor worksites and rest breaks as needed to prevent employees from overheating. The proposed federal rule also would require employers to adopt acclimatization, high heat and emergency response procedures. And, like California law, all heat illness prevention procedures must be maintained in a written heat illness prevention plan.
However, the proposed federal rule has some differences compared to California regulations, including, notably, different threshold temperatures at which certain procedures (e.g., water provision, cool down areas and breaks, etc.) are required. For example, the proposed federal rule has an initial heat trigger of 80 degrees, which is lower than California’s indoor heat trigger of 82 degrees. Additionally, high heat procedures kick in at 90 degrees under the proposed federal standard, lower than California’s outdoor high heat trigger of 95 degrees.
If the proposed national heat illness prevention standard goes into effect, Cal/OSHA may revisit existing California heat illness prevention standards and potentially make some conforming changes to the extent that the final federal rule is more protective than California’s existing regulations.
The proposed rule, however, still has a long way to go. Anyone may comment on OSHA’s proposed rule until December 30, 2024, after which, the agency will take all comments under consideration and publish a final rule, likely in the first half of 2025. Additionally, a potential federal administration change and/or future legal challenges could create further uncertainty for the rule.
CalChamber will continue to provide updates as the regulation moves through the rulemaking process. Employers should closely monitor these developments as we head into next year.
James W. Ward, Employment Law Subject Matter Expert/Legal Writer and Editor
CalChamber members can read more about Heat Illness Prevention: Outdoor and Indoor Standards in the HR Library. Not a member? Learn how to power your business with a CalChamber membership.
