On July 2, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a comprehensive proposal on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in both outdoor and indoor work settings. This is the first-ever national heat stress rule. OSHA submitted the proposed rule to the Federal Register for publication on August 30, 2024. Interested parties have until December 30, 2024 (120 day public comment period) to submit comments and request a public hearing.
This proposed heat safety rule has been years in the making. In our recent Safety Sense publication, we discussed OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards. (provide link here) OSHA began enforcement of the NEP in April of 2022 under the General Duty Clause. OSHA indicated that the NEP and its enforcement under the broad General Duty Clause standard was insufficient. Heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States. Therefore, OSHA proposed a specific heat safety rule to address the significant workplace hazard.
The proposed heat injury and illness rule is comprehensive and would apply to all employers nationwide conducting work in all sectors including General Industry, Construction, Maritime and Agriculture with few exceptions. OSHA will require employers to develop and implement comprehensive, site-specific written Heath Injury and Illness Prevention Plans (HIIPP). Employers must include in the HIIPP a list of all types of work activities performed by their employees, include all policies and procedures necessary for compliance with the rule, establish and describe the employer’s heat metric, and identify one or more specific Heat Safety Coordinator. The HIIPP must be reviewed and evaluated at least annually, and also after a heat-related illness or injury. Further, employers must document that they involved non-supervisory employees (or their representatives) in the development, implementation, and review of the HIIPP.
The requirements of the proposed heat injury and illness rule are activated by the Initial Heat Trigger which is defined as a “heat index of 80 degrees F or a wet bulb globe temperature equal to the NIOSH Recommended Alert Limit” for more than 15 minutes in any given sixty-minute period. This means that the HIIPP would be effective on some days but not on other days. Employers will be required to provide employees with accessible drinking water at all times. The rue will require employers to implement frequent rest breaks in cool or shaded areas that are close to the worksite to allow for easy access by the employees.
This publication is not exhaustive of the significant requirements enunciated in the proposed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Standard. Please remember that this standard is only a proposal at this time but is expected to become effective in some fashion in 2025. We will keep you updated on any changes. For further information or explanation, please contact a member of our Labor and Employment Section.
Prepare For Cold, Flu and COVID Season
As the cold season approaches, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) predicts that COVID-19 cases will increase. Now is a good time to review and update COVID-19 policies to ensure business continuity despite employee illnesses.
We recommend that employers review the latest guidance from the CDC for respiratory diseases. The strict guidelines for COVID-19 cases have been lifted by the CDC. The CDC further explains that COVID-19’s symptoms increasingly resemble those of other respiratory viral illnesses, including influenza. The CDC guidance, therefore, will change upon occasion to be proportionate to the current level of risk posed by COVID-19 and other critical health issues.
Many employers have not updated their COVID-19 policies since the height of the pandemic when masking and quarantine periods were mandated. The CDC now recommends treating COVID-19 similar to other respiratory viruses. The CDC guidelines are now symptom based. For example, employees may be permitted to reenter the workforce when both their symptoms are improving overall and they have not had a fever within the past 24 hours. Employers, however, may wish to take additional precautions such as cleaning high touch surfaces and common areas with sanitizing solutions, providing disposable face masks for employees who wish to wear them, and making hand sanitizers available throughout the workplace. As always, employers should emphasize the importance of regular and thorough hand washing.
CDC guidelines may change throughout the current cold and flu season. Please check the CDC’s website for the last updates https://www.cdc.gov/index.html.
Being Prepared for an Emergency in the Workplace
Emergencies may be defined as an unexpected, serious, and often dangerous situations requiring immediate action. Preparation is the key to handling an emergency. The recent weather emergencies caused by tornadoes and Hurricane Helene as well as the chemical fire in Georgia reveal the importance of preparation and training.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires written Emergency Action Plans under General Industry 29 CFR 1910.38 for employers with more than 10 employees. An employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the emergency action plan orally to employees. An emergency action plan must include at a minimum clearly understood reporting procedures; evacuation procedures including specific exit routes depending on the type of emergency; procedures for employees who remain to execute critical plant operations; procedures to account for all employees who have been evacuated; procedures to be following by first responder employees; and the names and contact information of employees who may be contacted for detailed information about the emergency action plan.
Emergency Action Plans should address emergencies that are reasonably expected in the workplace. Examples are toxic chemical releases, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods, blizzards, and others. The emergency evacuation is dependent many times upon the type of emergency involved. For example, evacuation procedures for fire emergencies differ from tornado emergencies. Employees should know their role in carrying out the evacuation plan. The employer should always ensure that an adequate number of evacuation warden employees are available at all times during working hours to assist with the swift evacuation of workers from the danger location to the safe areas.
Emergency Action Plans are an essential tool for the safety and welfare of all employees. Please contact a member of Bugbee & Conkle’s Labor and Employment Section with questions or more information.