Washington could consider heat safety rules for indoor workers

Federal rules for protecting outdoor and indoor workers from heat hazards are under consideration. Washington and Oregon already have such rules in place for outdoor workers.

The U.S. Department of Labor and OSHA, or Occupational Safety and Health Administration, presented the Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings Rulemaking. It would require employers to develop plans to evaluate and control heat hazards in the workplace.

The proposal includes identifying heat hazards and implementing control measures when heat levels are extreme in the workplace. It would also require having an emergency response plan, training employees and supervisors and retaining records.

According to OSHA, “The proposed standard would apply to all employers conducting outdoor and indoor work in all general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture sectors where OSHA has jurisdiction.”

OSHA noted, “The ultimate goal is to prevent and reduce the number of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities caused by exposure to hazardous heat.”

NWPB reached out to Ryan Allen with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, or L&I.

Allen said some of the employer requirements in this federal proposal include evaluating heat risk, providing hydration and being able to respond should a worker have symptoms of a heat-related illness.

Allen said these are already covered in Washington’s heat protection rules for outdoor workers. 

“The biggest difference right now with the proposed federal rules are their provisions around indoor heat,” said Allen.

Allen said Washington has focused on heat rules for outdoor workers rather than indoor, because those have been requested more. 

“I don’t recall ever seeing a petition for indoor heat. When we updated our outdoor heat rules, we recognized the need for indoor heat but also recognized that it is a different standard,” Allen said.

Allen said that when federal rules are approved, Washington L&I adapts to comply with federal requirements and work on rules for indoor workers where heat is a hazard. 

“We’re going to be focusing on those industries, who are working in industries where the heat is getting produced indoors, making it worse in areas where maybe you don’t have as much climate control to contend with the issue,” Allen said.

Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado and Minnesota all have some heat protections in place for workers. 

According to the L&I’s  Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention report, Washington accepted 53 heat-related illness claims in 2022.

The report also mentions that farmworkers and laborers are the occupations with the highest number of claims. Most claims are from Yakima, Spokane, King and Grant Counties.

The Washington Tracking Network, an environmental public health database, tracks heat stress cases in the state.  A report from WTN showed there were 214 heat stress deaths in Washington between 2018 and 2022.

The database also showed at least 612 people were hospitalized for different conditions associated with heat stress, like heat stroke or heat exhaustion, between 2017 and 2021.

Cases of heat-related deaths and illnesses have increased considerably in the last decade.

The Washington Tracking Network does not specify how many of those incidents were work-related.