OSHA Heat Rulemaking Update: Comment Period Extended, Hearing Scheduled
OSHA has extended by 15 days the comment period for its proposed heat rule, which was published in the Federal Register in August. The extension is intended to allow stakeholders additional time—until Jan. 14, 2025—to review the agency’s proposal and gather information and data to support their feedback. The comment period was initially set to end on Dec. 30. In a statement, Douglas Parker, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, said that the “extension to the already lengthy comment period will take the deadline past the holiday season and help ensure that stakeholders can share valuable insights we need to craft a rule that protects workers from extreme heat indoors and outdoors effectively.”
OSHA has also scheduled an informal public hearing about the proposal to begin on June 16, 2025. Individuals who wish to provide oral testimony, documentary evidence, or question witnesses at the hearing must register using a form on the agency’s website on or before May 2, 2025.
With former President Donald Trump returning to the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, the future of OSHA’s proposed heat rulemaking is uncertain. Experts interviewed by Construction Dive, a publication focused on the construction and building industry, predicted that the second Trump administration may “abandon the rulemaking process altogether.”
The proposed rule on heat injury and illness prevention among workers in both indoor and outdoor settings, if finalized, would cover approximately 36 million workers, or about a third of all full-time workers in the U.S. Provisions of the proposed rule would require affected employers to develop and implement site-specific heat injury and illness prevention plans as well as plans to acclimatize new or returning workers who may be unaccustomed to working in high-heat conditions. The proposed rule also addresses requirements for drinking water, rest breaks, and control of indoor heat.
OSHA welcomes all written comments from stakeholders, including feedback on issues specifically identified in the notice of proposed rulemaking, such as health effects, risk assessment, proposed requirements, and technological feasibility. The agency has compiled its questions about these issues in a document available as a PDF from OSHA’s webpage on the heat rulemaking.
Learn more about OSHA’s heat rulemaking and how to comment by visiting the agency’s website.
Related: Articles published in The Synergist in April 2016 and April 2020 discuss protecting workers in hot environments and critical factors for heat stress assessment and prevention, respectively. An article published in the June/July 2022 issue of the magazine focuses on reducing heat burden from personal protective equipment and other factors.