On May 22, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed Executive Order (EO) 2025-09 as part of the state’s broader initiative to enhance worker safety amid rising summer temperatures. The Industrial Commission of Arizona’s (ICA’s) Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) will establish a Workplace Heat Safety Task Force to draft and recommend heat safety guidelines for employers by the end of 2025. This task force will include private-sector members, public-sector members, worker representatives, and occupational safety and health experts to create clear and effective guidance for managing heat risks.

EO 2025-09 builds on Hobbs’ Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan, launched in 2023, which aimed to address the increasing temperatures in Arizona. ADOSH also implemented its heat State Emphasis Program (SEP), allowing inspectors to focus on heat-related injury and illness prevention such as ensuring access to water, rest, and shade. Together, the preparedness plan, the SEP, and the EO position Arizona as an aggressive advocate against heat illness. In contrast, federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards have only gone as far as to recognize heat as a safety hazard, but no specific guidelines have been implemented.

The task force’s guidelines, set to be completed by Dec. 31, will clarify what constitutes a heat safety hazard under the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s (OSH Act’s) General Duty Clause. These guidelines will inform how ADOSH’s...

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