After recording breaking global heat, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board has approved a standard on indoor, workplace heat exposure.
According to the board, the new standards will apply to indoor work areas where the temperature or heat index reach 87 degrees Fahrenheit or 82 degrees in areas with a high degree of radiant heat or in workplaces where workers wear clothing or gear that restricts bodily heat loss.
Employers that are covered by the rule must provide access to clean drinking water and cool down areas to workers where they can sit without touching each other and where the temperature is below 82 degrees. Employers are allowed to use administrative controls when engineering controls are not feasible. PPE is also allowed to reduce workers’ heat exposure.
Still, employers with high-heat workspaces are required to maintain accurate records of temperature and the heat index. California will also mandate employers to provide cooling breaks for employees in hot conditions.
The California ruling comes just before OSHA proposed a rule to protect workers from extreme heat.
As FacilitiesNet previously reported, the proposed rule would require employers to develop injury and illness prevention plans to control heat hazards in workplaces affected by excessive heat, protecting 35 million workers.
Similar to the California ruling, employers would be required to evaluate heat risks and implement requirements for drinking water, rest breaks and control of indoor heat and require plans to protect new or returning workers unaccustomed to workin gin high heat conditions.
Mackenna Moralez is the associate editor for the facilities market.
