New Mexico is proposing to strengthen its proposed heat illness and injury prevention rule by adding a new section on presumption of violation, advancing the measure ahead of its formal adoption later this year, the latest in a growing number of such state regulations while the future of an OSHA heat standard remains uncertain.
A group of 16 Republican senators, led by Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA), is urging OSHA to consider a range of constituent-raised concerns about the Biden-era proposed heat standard as the agency discusses “pragmatic solutions for preventing heat-related hazards in the workplaces.”
There is real potential for a “tug of war” between what OSHA chief David Keeling may want to do with affirmative rulemaking and what the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) might wish to see with deregulatory rulemaking, an employer-focused attorney says.
With the Senate’s recent confirmation of David Keeling as the head of OSHA, agency observers are outlining potential regulatory and enforcement changes under the Trump administration, including likely rollbacks of certain reporting requirements and other Biden-era priorities while possibly finalizing some version of a national heat standard.
A first-time national study finds that hot temperatures are a significant risk factor for a wide array of workplace injuries beyond heat illness or heat stroke, although state heat illness-prevention standards appear to lessen the risk.
OSHA is extending by 30 days the deadline for stakeholders to provide additional comments on the Biden-era proposed heat injury and illness standard after an industry coalition said it needed more time to adequately respond to questions from the agency following an informal public hearing.
Despite Senate pressure to quickly propose a workplace-violence standard, OSHA says in its latest Unified Agenda of regulatory actions that a proposal date is “to be determined,” and the agency is also not committing to a timeline for finalizing a heat injury and illness standard, though it is still looking to do so.
House and Senate Democrats have introduced legislation seeking to force OSHA to issue a federal heat injury and illness standard and to explicitly authorize the agency to update the standard as technology improves or heat-related hazards worsen.
While OSHA may still opt against finalizing a national heat standard, some observers believe the agency is looking to find middle ground on requirements that could be palatable to both employers and workers, especially because a federal rule would preempt state actions and prevent a more prescriptive approach in the future.
Labor unions and employer-focused attorneys are raising concerns about the effects of massive staffing cuts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on OSHA’s effort to develop a national heat standard, noting the current lack of neutral expertise NIOSH has traditionally provided for OSHA rulemakings.