No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section requires each employer to (1) furnish employment and a place of employment free from conditions that may reasonably be anticipated to cause death or serious physical harm from heat stress; and (2) comply with standards, regulations, rules, and orders promulgated under this Act.
This section directs the Secretary of Labor to promulgate an occupational safety and health standard establishing requirements for employers to protect employees from heat stress and prevent heat-related illness and injury, using the best available evidence to achieve the highest feasible degree of health and safety protection. The standard must presume feasibility of measures equivalent to approved state plans in effect for at least one year; prioritize worker protection over other considerations; treat specified findings from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, or National Academies as best available evidence; and may cluster employers by industry, occupation, or other relevant categories. In addition to core practices that employers must implement when engineering controls or personal protective equipment cannot reduce heat stress below hazardous levels—(1) providing suitably cool potable water or hydration at employer expense, (2) scheduling periodic paid rest breaks, (3) providing access to shade or cool-down spaces, (4) implementing acclimatization policies, and (5) ensuring effective implementation—the standard may require (i) engineering controls (e.g., ventilation, insulation, climate control), (ii) administrative controls (e.g., work schedules), (iii) employer-provided personal protective equipment (e.g., cooling vests), (iv) health protocols (e.g., symptom monitoring, emergency response), (v) training for employees and supervisors, and (vi) heat illness prevention plans developed with employee participation, in writing, and available upon request. (Thus, the standard may evolve with new evidence or technology.) The section further requires employee compensation during mandated activities such as rest breaks and training.
This section establishes implementation and enforcement mechanisms for the worker heat protection standard and related rules, regulations, and orders by incorporating applicable provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) with modifications. Specifically, it (1) provides such standards the same legal effect as an OSHA occupational safety and health standard; (2) sets a 4-year statute of limitations for citations of violations (from OSHA's standard 6 months); (3) directs the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to grant substantial deference to the Secretary of Labor's reasonable interpretations; (4) authorizes the Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Health and Human Services to prescribe recordkeeping and reporting regulations with the same authority as under OSHA section 8, including consolidation into existing requirements while treating violations as distinct; and (5) extends OSHA whistleblower protections under section 11(c) to matters under this Act, extending the complaint filing period to 180 days after violation (from 30 days), requiring Secretary notification within 90 days, and authorizing employee suits in U.S. district court for relief, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs if the Secretary does not act.
This section (1) provides a severability clause, under which the invalidity of any provision of the Act or its application to any person or circumstance does not affect the remainder of the Act or its application to other persons or circumstances; and (2) authorizes appropriations of such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year to carry out the Act.
This section directs the Secretary of Labor to update the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS)—an ongoing Department of Labor survey of crop farmworkers' demographics, employment, health, and working conditions—with questions, as determined by the Secretary, to identify the incidence and prevalence of heat-related illness and injury and to assess the impact of standards and enforcement under this Act. The section further requires the Secretary to submit a report on implementation to the House Committee on Education and Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions not later than one year after enactment.
This section defines terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) "Commission" as the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; (2) "employee" and (3) "employer" as having the meanings given in section 3 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 652); (4) "heat stress" as the load of heat a person experiences due to sources of heat or heat retention (including metabolic heat, environmental factors, and clothing or personal protective equipment) or the presence of heat in a work setting; (5) "heat-related illness" as a material impairment of health due to heat stress; (6) "heat-related injury" as an injury caused by exposure to heat or sources of heat or occurring as a result of heat stress; (7) "Institute" as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; (8) "Secretary" as the Secretary of Labor; and (9) "worker heat protection standard" as a standard regulating employee exposure to heat stress and preventing heat-related illness and injury through conditions or practices reasonably necessary to provide safe or healthful employment and places of employment.