A video of a UPS driver collapsing on the job in Arizona went viral last month. After a brief pause, the employee rises and goes back to work.

Millions of workers are toiling under similar conditions as heat waves ravage the country this summer.

In Maryland, backers of legislation to protect workers against heat stress are frustrated by what they call the Hogan administration’s “lack of urgency” and transparency in creating regulations to implement the bill, nearly two years after it became law.

The recent heat wave highlights the importance of heat regulations as the Maryland Department of Labor continues work on carrying out House Bill 722, which passed the General Assembly in 2020.

The commissioner of labor and industry at the Department of Labor, Matthew Helminiak, said the agency is looking to complete draft regulations in the “next couple of weeks.”

Public awareness of the increasing number of heat-related illnesses has grown as industries throughout the world grapple with the impacts of climate change. House Bill 722 was designed to mitigate the effects climate change is having on state residents, said Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Montgomery), lead House sponsor of the legislation.

“I’m really looking at the heartbreaking reality that we have a warming planet,” Charkoudian said in an interview. “And while we’re trying to slow the warming down, we need to make sure that we’re caring for everybody.”

A group of labor and health professionals wrote a letter to Helminiak...

Read Full Story: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2022/08/11/activists-accuse-md-labor-dept-of-...