WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representatives Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) and Judy Chu (CA-27) led 24 of their colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, urging the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to finalize the proposed rule in preventing occupational heat injury and illness.
The letter led by Ansari and Chu was signed by Representatives Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Summer Lee (PA-12), Mike Levin (CA-49), Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Jerry Nadler (NY-12), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Luz Rivas (CA-29), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).
“We write to you today to share our overwhelming support for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed rule to prevent occupational heat injury and illness,” the Members wrote in the letter. “We request an update on this rulemaking and the scheduled hearings in June, and urge you to finalize this rule without weakening the protections included in the proposed rule.”
Endorsing organizations include The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), United Farm Workers (UFW), UFW Foundation, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), Laborers International Union Of North America (LiUNA), United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), United Steelworkers (USW), Transportation Workers Union of America (TWU), Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWED), Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA), National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU), and Public Citizen.
Support for Stronger Worker Protections Against Extreme Heat
“Far too many workers across our country are exposed to the dangers of working in extreme heat without access to water, a place to cool off or the proper training on how to identify heat illness. Wheelchair attendants are transporting passengers across jet bridges in 100-plus degree temperatures while school bus drivers are working without functioning air conditioning. With temperatures rising and protections for working people eroding, these OSHA rules are more important than ever,” said SEIU International President April Verrett. “SEIU members thank Rep. Ansari for her leadership in helping airport service workers in Phoenix win a heat safety standard at the local level, and now for her work in Congress on this proposed federal standard which would be life-changing for workers across multiple sectors.”
“AFGE thanks Representative Ansari and Representative Chu for their support for the heat illness and injury prevention rule proposed last year to protect workers,” said AFGE Legislative Representative Fiona Kohrman.
“Everyone deserves safe working conditions, but powerful corporations have not done enough to protect their workers from hot working environments, exacerbated by the climate crisis,” said Liz Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO. “Extreme heat is increasingly causing indoor and outdoor workers to collapse or even die on the job, and our union family has already lost too many members to preventable, work-related heat illness. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) must issue a strong heat rule, requiring employers to use common-sense heat-illness prevention plans and measures that ensure workers have protections they need and can raise unsafe working conditions without fear of retaliation. As we approach Workers’ Memorial Day, our annual commemoration of workers who have needlessly been injured, disabled, or lost their lives on the job, OSHA must listen to workers about the impacts of heat and specific protections they need to be safe and act to save lives.”
“For years, the UFW Foundation has urged OSHA to establish a federal heat standard so that all farm workers and other workers can have a safe work environment regardless of the state they live in. Last year, we made progress when OSHA finally announced proposed rules that would give workers access to common sense solutions, such fresh water, paid breaks, shade and training of workers during periods of extreme heat. This should be the federal norm,” said Erica Lomeli Corcoran, UFW Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer. “ We join members of Congress and partner organizations in urging OSHA to swiftly finalize and implement this proposed rule in the name of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez from California, Dario Mendoza from Arizona, and Miguel Angel Guzman Chavez from Georgia, and far too many other farm workers who were killed by extreme heat and a lack of protections.”
“Virtually every active UAW member works in a state where they are potentially exposed to hundreds of hours of work each year in excess of the proposed rule’s initial and extreme heat triggers,” said Matt Uptmor, Director of Health & Safety for the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). “We support a strong Heat Injury and Illness Prevention rule to protect workers, and the proposed rule would save thousands of lives and protect millions of workers from entirely preventable heat-related illness and injury on the job.”
Letter Text HERE and below.
The Honorable Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Secretary
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20210
Dear Secretary Chavez-DeRemer:
We write to you today to share our overwhelming support for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed rule to prevent occupational heat injury and illness. We request an update on this rulemaking and the scheduled hearings in June, and urge you to finalize this rule without weakening the protections included in the proposed rule.
Heat is the leading cause of death among all weather conditions in the United States. In the workplace, extreme heat causes disorientation, heat stress, heat stroke, and even death. In fact, between 2011 and 2022, 479 workers have died and 33,890 workers throughout the nation have suffered work-related heat injuries and illnesses.[1] Because of the lack of robust reporting requirements, these numbers are expected to significantly underestimate the actual devastation extreme heat inflicts on American workers, which is preventable with interventions. Research also estimates that employers in the United States are losing $100 billion in heat-induced lost labor productivity every year.[2]
On August 30, 2024, OSHA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings. This was a critical step towards strong worker protections from hot working conditions which, when implemented, would save lives and contribute to a more productive workforce. This standard, consistent with recommendations from heat stress experts, industrial hygienists, workers, employers, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, would establish an objective, science-based definition of what constitutes extreme heat and clarify employer responsibilities and the steps necessary to protect employees from hazardous heat in the workplace.
Workers on the front lines of extreme heat put food on our tables, build our homes and offices, deliver our mail and packages, and make sure our roads are safe to drive on and our planes are safe to fly.
Please send us a detailed update on the work OSHA has been doing to promulgate lifesaving heat safety protections and resist any efforts to stall or weaken these proposed lifesaving standards. Strong, evidence-based, standardized rules that raise the floor for everyone are essential to our workers’ safety and economic productivity.
[1] https://www.osha.gov/heat-exposure/rulemaking/background
[2]https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Extreme-Heat-Report-2021.pdf
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