Trump administration may weaken or block first national workplace heat protections

A new federal rule to protect workers from extreme heat faces uncertainty as the Trump administration considers rolling it back or replacing it with a weaker version.

Claire Brown reports for The New York Times.

In short:

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) begins public hearings this week on a rule proposed under former President Biden that would require employers to offer water and rest breaks in high heat.
Business groups and Republican lawmakers have pushed back, arguing that such rules would be burdensome and that workers in hotter regions are already acclimated.
Worker safety advocates fear the Trump administration will dilute the rule, which could override stricter state protections already in place.

Key quote:

“All heat-related deaths are preventable because they all result from an overexposure that can be prevented.”

— Dr. John Balbus, former co-chair of a federal working group on heat

Why this matters:

As climate change drives record-breaking heat across the country, more workers face life-threatening conditions on the job. Outdoor and manual laborers — farmhands, delivery drivers, construction crews — bear the brunt of these conditions without consistent federal safeguards. Heat doesn’t just cause dehydration or fainting; it stresses the cardiovascular system, raising risks of stroke and heart attacks. But despite rising deaths, federal protections have lagged. Without national standards, workers’ safety depends on a patchwork of state laws, some of which are now being dismantled.

www.nytimes.com

Arctic scientist in red parka stranded on an ice floe.

Copyright: Jan Will/BigStock Photo ID: 15028817

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