California Is Positioned to Shield Employees From Severe Heat—Inside

Few jurisdictions have laws in place to safeguard employees from the increasing risk of intense heat, whether it be indoors or outdoors. Even though federal legislation has delayed, California is anticipated to enact heat standards for indoor workers in the spring.We move all the time. Sara Fee, a former employee of an Amazon warehouse in San Bernardino, California, testified before a state workplace safety board in May. "My shirt is soaked in sweat three to four times throughout the day." "I have been nauseous, dizzy." California is well-positioned to safeguard workers in poorly ventilated warehouses, steamy restaurant kitchens, and other indoor working sites where temperatures can rise to potentially deadly levels as the climate warms and the threat of extreme heat grows. Since 2005, the state has enforced heat guidelines for outside workers; indoor workplaces will follow suit.

According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, just two other states—Minnesota and Oregon—have heat regulations for indoor employees.Businesses would have to keep worksite temperatures below 87 degrees Fahrenheit when workers are present and below 82 degrees in areas where workers wear protective clothing or are exposed to radiant heat, like furnaces, if California approves its proposal in the spring. Businesses must give workers water, breaks, places to cool off, cooling vests, and other tools to prevent overheating if they are unable to reduce the temperature. "It is only getting hotter every year," said Alice Berliner, head of the Worker Health & Safety Program at the University of California-Merced. "Having safeguards for both indoor and outdoor laborers gives someone the confidence to request access to drinking water and a break when needed."