John,

NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has reported that 2024 is the hottest summer on record.¹

Many businesses are refusing to adjust their safety standards to protect workers, so the Biden administration is taking action.

The Department of Labor (DOL) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have introduced a new heat standard rule titled Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings.

If implemented, this new rule would protect workers from extreme heat by ensuring breaks, shade, and water on the job. But the Chamber of Commerce as well as the construction industry and other special interests are opposing the new rule.

The DOL and OSHA need to hear from us, to strengthen their hand against the special interests. Click here to submit a comment in support of the new rule protecting workers from extreme heat.

The groups most affected by extreme heat are outdoor workers such as farm and construction workers, indoor workers who lack air conditioning, and emergency responders.² The risks of extreme heat are felt especially hard by construction workers because of the need to wear helmets and goggles that trap heat on the head and the eyes. Unsurprisingly, these workers are disproportionately low-wage earners, people of color, and immigrants.³

While construction workers accounted for only 6% of the total workforce, they accounted for 36% of heat related deaths from 1992 – 2016.⁴

Our friends at More Perfect Union spoke with farmworkers in North Carolina who are suffering under dangerous working conditions. Even in heat that regularly tops 100 degrees, they are responsible for securing their own water throughout the day.⁵ Their employer has no legal obligation to do so.

No worker should have to risk their lives working in extreme heat, while their employer is not legally responsible for their safety.

Click here to watch More Perfect Union’s latest report and submit a comment to the DOL and OSHA in support of the new heat standard rule.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ NASA Finds Summer 2024 Hottest to Date
² Who Is Most At Risk To Extreme Heat?
³ Extreme Heat Is More Dangerous for Workers Every Year
⁴ Heat-related deaths among construction workers in the United States
⁵ Our Food System Is Killing People. Big Ag Wants To Keep It That Way.