National Strategy to Guide Heat Resilience Efforts Through 2030
On Aug. 14, the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) released its first National Heat Strategy (PDF). Through 2030, this document will guide the 29 federal agencies within NIHHIS in building the nation’s resilience to extreme heat. The strategy encompasses constituent agencies’ range of jurisdictions, but as CDC is a lead agency within NIHHIS and other partner agencies include NIOSH and OSHA, some of the strategic goals relate directly to protecting the health and safety of workers and their communities. While the beginning of the document states that NIHHIS’ “vision for a thriving, heat-resilient nation is all encompassing,” the strategy recognizes those who work in hot environments as one of the populations “disproportionately affected by extreme heat.”
The National Heat Strategy explains that NIHHIS “is a focal point for collaboration between Federal agencies to address the challenge of extreme heat,” launched in 2015 and based on the Integrated Information System (IIS) model. “An IIS is designed to inform and improve the policy and decision-making landscape, connect and amplify existing programs and networks, and respond to emerging priorities in a rapidly changing climate,” the document states.
Part of the strategy lays out each NIHHIS agency’s roles in addressing heat. CDC’s roles include tracking heat-related illnesses, conducting translational research on heat-related topics, providing information on heat health and safety, and building local health departments’ capacity to prepare for and respond to heat events. NIOSH’s role is to conduct research and make recommendations to prevent work-related heat illnesses and injuries. OSHA is responsible for ensuring employers meet their obligations related to heat illnesses and injuries, such as by developing safety standards and guidance and responding to reports of occupational heat illnesses and fatalities. Other agencies with roles in NIHHIS include EPA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health.
The National Heat Strategy groups NIHHIS agency activities into four overarching goals: communication, outreach, and education; science; solutions; and support. Although these goals are broad in scope, some components detailed in the document explicitly refer to workers and their health and safety. Within Goal 1, “Communication, Outreach, and Education,” workers and employers are listed among the populations for whom NIHHIS should expand opportunities for heat health training. Goal 3, “Solutions,” in part addresses occupational health and safety, including potential standards and regulations.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the new National Heat Strategy with a press release that also links to heat-related resources developed by NIHHIS agencies. These include the Building Blocks for a Heat Stress Prevention Training Program (PDF), developed by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Worker Training Program. The WTP training document includes tools and checklists that help workers prevent, recognize, and respond to heat stress.
A PDF of the National Heat Strategy may be downloaded from the HHS press release.