INSIGHTi

Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) Regulation of
Employee Exposure to Heat
Updated July 25, 2023
Employees who work outdoors, including those in industries such as construction and agriculture, may be
exposed to extreme heat conditions. Similarly, certain indoor work situations—such as bakeries,
warehouses, and steel mills—may also expose employees to unsafe heat levels. The lead federal agency
that regulates worker safety and health, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), does
not have any standards that specifically address outdoor or indoor heat exposure but has published an
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for a proposed heat exposure standard.
Heat-Related Illnesses
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has identified several illnesses that
are related to heat exposure, including heat stroke, which can result in permanent disability or death.
Other heat-related illnesses include heat exhaustion, rhabdomyolysis, heat syncope, heat cramps, and heat
rash. Research published in 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that
between 2004 and 2018 there were an average of 702 annual deaths in the United States due to heat
exposure, with an average of 415 deaths in which heat exposure was the underlying cause and 287 deaths
in which heat exposure was a contributing cause. (This includes employment-related and non-
employment-related deaths.) In 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational
Injuries reported 36 employment-related deaths due to environmental heat exposure and an average of 40
annual environmental heat exposure employment-related deaths between 2011 and 2021. Since 1972,
NIOSH has recommended that OSHA promulgate a heat exposure standard. While Section 22 of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act, 29 U.S.C. §671) authorizes NIOSH to develop
recommended occupational safety and health standards, OSHA is not required by law to promulgate
standards based on these recommendations.
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IN11701
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OSHA and Heat Exposure
OSHA does not currently have any specific heat exposure standards. On October 27, 2021, OSHA
published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for a potential standard on Heat Injury
and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings. OSHA solicited public comments on the
ANPRM through January 26, 2022, and received over 1,000 comments on the ANPRM.
In 2011, OSHA launched a heat illness prevention campaign that includes guidance to employers and
employees, a smartphone app that provides location-specific information on heat conditions and heat
exposure prevention and first aid, and educational materials such as posters and pamphlets (an example of
an OSHA heat illness prevention poster is provided in Figure 1) in English, Spanish, and other languages.
In the absence of a specific standard, OSHA may enforce Section 5(a) of the OSH Act (29 U.S.C.
§654(a)), commonly referred to as the “general duty clause,” which requires each employer to provide a
workplace that is free of “recognized hazards” causing or likely to cause “death or serious physical harm”
to its employees.
As an example of the use of the general duty clause to cite an employer for failing to protect employees
from heat exposure, in March 2021, OSHA cited Valley Produce Harvesting and Hauling Company for a
willful violation of the general duty clause by exposing sugar cane harvesting employees in Florida to
“excessive heat, elevated temperature working conditions, direct sun radiation and thermal stress” while
working outdoors in September 2020. OSHA assessed the maximum allowable civil monetary penalty of
$136,532 for this violation, which was later reduced through an informal settlement with the employer to
$81,919.20.
In April 2022, OSHA began a National Emphasis Program of enforcement of the general duty clause and
compliance assistance to focus on indoor and outdoor heat exposure.
State Occupational Safety and Health Standards
Section 18 of the OSH Act (29 U.S.C. §667) authorizes states to establish their own occupational safety
and health plans and preempt standards established and enforced by OSHA. OSHA must approve state
plans if they are “at least as effective” as OSHA’s standards and enforcement. Currently, 21 states and
Puerto Rico have state plans that cover all employers, and five states and the U.S. Virgin Islands have
state plans that cover only state and local government employers not covered by the OSH Act. Three
states—California, Oregon, and Washington—have state occupational safety and health standards that
cover outdoor heat exposure. Minnesota has a state standard that covers indoor heat exposure.
Legislation to Require OSHA to Promulgate a Heat
Exposure Standard
In the 117th Congress, H.R. 2193 and S. 1068, both titled as the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and
Fatality Prevention Act of 2021, would have required OSHA to propose and promulgate a heat exposure
standard to cover outdoor and indoor workplaces. Neither bill was enacted into law. This standard would
have had to be at least as protective as any state standard and would have had to meet specific
requirements outlined in the legislation. Both bills were named after Asunción Valdivia, a California
farmworker who died from heat stroke in 2004.

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Congressional Research Service
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Figure 1. OSHA Health Illness Prevention Campaign Poster

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, https://www.osha.gov/publications/bytopic/heat-il ness-
prevention.
Notes: This poster is also available in Spanish and eight other languages.

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Congressional Research Service
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Author Information

Scott D. Szymendera

Analyst in Disability Policy




Disclaimer
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IN11701 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED

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