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OSHA’s Heat Standard Mandate is unnecessary bureaucratic overreach

OSHA’s Heat Standard Mandate is unnecessary bureaucratic overreach

Tell Congress: Pass the Heat Workforce Standards Act to protect small businesses.

If OSHA’s new Heat Standard mandate is finalized, small businesses nationwide would be forced to implement heat control measures, create emergency heat-related response plans, routinely train personnel, and engage in burdensome recordkeeping.

The proposed Heat Standard fails to recognize that small businesses are already required to prevent temperature-related harm to employees and consists solely of new mandates and significant compliance burdens.

According to the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are required to provide their employees with a workplace that “is free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.” OSHA interprets the clause to mean that employers are obligated to protect employees from temperature-related hazards and already takes enforcement action against bad actors in heat-related incidents.

Background

In August 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a one-size-fits-all Heat Standard (Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings). The proposed standard applies to indoor and outdoor work settings with limited exemptions and would impose significant new compliance burdens and red tape on nearly all small businesses nationwide.

Nearly 90% of NFIB members nationwide oppose federal regulations during warm weather at a worksite.

Key features

OSHA’s proposed heat standard mandate includes:

Written Heat Safety Plan: Employers must develop a Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (HIIPP) tailored to their specific work environment. Among other things, this plan includes assigning a heat safety coordinator and outlining emergency procedures.

Employers must train workers and supervisors in recognizing heat illness symptoms, emergency response, and acclimatization protocols at least annually.

When worksite temperatures reach 80°F, employers must implement acclimation protocols for new and returning employees, provide water and break areas with cooling measures, and paid rest breaks if needed.

At 90°F, employers are required to provide mandatory 15-minute breaks every two hours, implement buddy systems, inform employees of a high heat trigger, remind employees of the HIIPP, and actively monitor workers for signs of heat illness.

Employers are required to retain written or electronic records for at least 6 months of employee break and workplace temperature data.

TAKE ACTION: Stop the burdensome proposed heat standard

Tell your Members of Congress to pass the Heat Workforce Standards Act to prevent the proposed Heat Standard from being finalized and stop future administrations from pursuing a similar regulation.

Take Action

What are small business owners saying?

We own and operate an indoor manufacturing facility that employs 15. The proposed OSHA Heat Standard rule… could prevent our company from operating during warmer months. We offer our employees cold refreshments and two paid breaks on top of their lunch break per day, and annually train employees about the dangers and signs of heat injuries. Our employees are what make our company go; their health and safety are our top priorities. Unfortunately, the OSHA Heat Standard rule would punish companies like ours with more government intrusion and paperwork, even though we go above and beyond to protect our employees’ health and safety from the heat.

NFIB Member, New Jersey

I have a land surveying business in Idaho. It is not uncommon for my field tech and me to take off from the truck in the morning with 20-40 pounds of equipment each and hike all day through whatever terrain the project takes us. This OSHA regulation would force me to hire 2 additional employees. We would be required to sit around and twiddle our thumbs for 15 minutes every 2 hours. It is already difficult to offer surveys at an affordable price. In the last few years, regulations have doubled the cost of a boundary survey. Local Idahoans are being priced out of being able to defend their boundaries. This regulation is unrealistic, unneeded, costly, and will make the quality of the work environment deteriorate.

NFIB Member, Idaho 

I own a construction business that builds swimming pools. We are a family business and have been in business for 45 years. … Being a seasonal business, we must do as much as we can through the summer to support the company through the winter months. … I already take great care of my crew and work side by side with them in the heat, so I know what it’s like when the weather is hot. … In the end, it will cost us more money and your constituents’ jobs. Please keep in mind with regulations like this that the only way a business can pay for these is through higher prices or lowering wages, neither of which we ever want to do.

NFIB Member, Missouri 

We own and operate a plant, greenhouse, and horticultural supply business in Oklahoma and would be significantly burdened by the proposed Heat Standard. The heat standard is unworkable. We spend months of the year when the low temperature is above the 80-degree first high heat threshold and would be forced to comply with all the rule’s mandates for a significant portion of the year. The paid breaks mandate would devastate our efficiency and would leave our workers at more risk of illness and injury. If the heat standard were to go into effect, we would likely be forced to hire at least one new employee just to comply with the new recordkeeping and paperwork requirements, let alone the supervision and break mandates, and could force us to raise our prices to absorb these new compliance costs.

NFIB Member, Oklahoma

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