Summer has a way of arriving all at once: longer days, vacation schedules, iced coffee orders, and the familiar hum of air conditioners working overtime. But for employers, warmer weather also brings a less refreshing seasonal concern: heat stress. Whether employees are working on construction sites, in agricultural fields, on loading docks, in commercial kitchens, in warehouses, or near heat-generating equipment indoors, employers should be prepared to identify and control heat-related hazards before they become medical emergencies, compliance problems, or both.
At the federal level, as most employers know, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not currently have a specific heat stress standard for indoor or outdoor heat-related hazards. That does not mean, however, that heat-related hazards fall outside OSHA’s enforcement authority. OSHA may cite employers under the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
Heat stress also remains an OSHA enforcement priority. The agency has used local, regional, and national emphasis programs to target inspections and enforcement in industries and worksites where employees may face elevated risks of heat-related illness. Employers in high-risk industries like manufacturing, warehousing, kitchens, construction, agriculture and landscaping, oil...
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