OSHA's Proposed Heat Rule Could Reshape Manufacturing Workforce and Production Scheduling

According to data from the National Centers for Environmental Information, the average daytime maximum temperature across the United States in June this year reached 84.6 degrees Fahrenheit, 3.3 degrees higher than the 20th-century average. Against the backdrop of continuously rising temperatures, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a rule on July 2 aimed at protecting approximately 36 million employees working outdoors or indoors from extreme heat.

If the rule is finalized, manufacturers will be required to develop and implement workplace heat injury and illness prevention plans for their facilities to assess and control heat risks in the work environment. The proposal includes plans to identify heat hazards and implement control measures, such as mandating a 15-minute rest break every two hours when temperatures reach 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

The rule also recommends that employers provide training on heat hazards, related policies and procedures, and the recognition and treatment of heat injuries or illnesses, and maintain appropriate records.

Although finalizing the rule will still take several months and may face some resistance in an election year, experts still point out that manufacturers must take preventive measures to protect their workforce.

OSHA's regulatory scrutiny of heat risks continues to intensify

According to a June 20 report from the Congressional Research Service, OSHA first launched a heat illness prevention awareness campaign in 2011, including providing guidance to businesses and workers and releasing a smartphone app that offers location-specific heat information and prevention and first aid advice. However, the agency has still not established specific standards targeting indoor and outdoor heat exposure. OSHA submitted an advance notice in October 2021, indicating it was developing a rule to regulate heat injury and illness prevention in indoor and outdoor environments, protecting workers from risks such as heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and heat rash.

"OSHA's heat regulations are actually pieced together from many other regulations that attempt half-measures to prevent key illnesses but fail to directly address the problem," said Ryan Stygar, a labor attorney at Centurion Trial Attorneys. "Currently, we only have OSHA's General Duty Clause, which essentially states that employers have a general obligation to prevent hazardous conditions in the workplace."

Currently, only five states—California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington—have OSHA-approved heat exposure standards. These standards vary and cover multiple topics, with some states including indoor standards and specific provisions for agricultural workers. In fact, OSHA's proposed rule is based on a regulation passed by California in June to protect workers in extreme indoor heat environments.

According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, the state's regulation took effect on July 23 and applies to most indoor workplaces, including warehouses and manufacturing facilities. When workplace temperatures reach 82 degrees Fahrenheit, businesses must take measures to prevent heat illness, such as providing drinking water and cooling areas.

Planning costs and judicial review pressures

OSHA estimates that the proposed standard will bring compliance costs of $7.8 billion to businesses nationwide, involving expenditures on installing air conditioning, training, and arranging rest breaks. Nicolas Castellanos, director of the Gilbert & Ruth Whitaker Center for Business Information at Rice University, noted that these implementation requirements mean manufacturers need to plan and consider the impact of additional employee rest time on daytime production efficiency.

"If manufacturers cannot afford the time lost in production capacity, then they must add staff, or consider using robotics to handle some of the short rest periods," Castellanos said.

Brittany Sakata, general counsel at the American Staffing Association, said that different states will also face different challenges in complying with OSHA's proposed rule due to environmental differences. However, Sakata cautioned that it remains unclear whether this extreme heat rule can withstand judicial review.

"We are now seeing overtime rules and the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) non-compete clause rule under attack. This is a strange period for employers—when I talk to them, they ask: 'Should I move forward? Should I take these steps?'" Sakata said. She advised businesses to assume that relevant rules or laws will be implemented and withstand judicial review. "You cannot sit back and assume some Texas court will strike it down. We need to be prepared now."

Proactive prevention, not passive waiting

Stygar believes that while waiting for the rule to be finalized, manufacturers should study OSHA's proposal to understand what may be required in the future. He added that every employer should conduct some form of first aid and emergency response training to recognize heat-related illnesses and should already have heat safety standards in place.

"I encourage every employer to become familiar with the warning signs of heat-related illnesses and heat exposure," he said. "You are already bound by OSHA's General Duty Clause. So, if you know the workplace is unbearably hot and you take no action, you could face OSHA citations or even more serious consequences even without this rule."