About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

1 1 (Updated September 5, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveqnl0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 















Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) Regulation of

Employee Exposure to Heat



Updated September 5, 2024

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. However, on August 30,
2024, OSHA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for a standard on Heat Injury and
Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings.


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 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational
Injuries reported 43 employment-related deaths due to environmental heat exposure and an average of 40
annual environmental heat exposure employment-related deaths between 2011 and 2022. 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.




                                                              Congressional Research Service
                                                                https://crsreports.congress.gov
                                                                                   IN11701

CRS INSIGHT
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most