The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) published an official draft of an indoor health illness prevention standard. While heat illness regulations are already applicable to outdoor workers, this new regulation strictly applies to employees working indoors when the temperature reaches at least 82 degrees.
Understanding The Proposed Regulation
Under this draft version, business owners must have written heat illness prevention plans. The plan would be necessary to include the following:
- Access to water
- Cool-down spots
- Acclimatization for newly assigned workers
- Emergency response procedures
- Control measures to minimize the risk of heat illness
Heat illness is a severe medical condition resulting from the body’s inability to cope with a particular heat load, including heat cramps, exhaustion, and heat strokes. There are 67,512 emergency department visits yearly due to heat in the U.S. In addition, 702 heat-related deaths occur each year. What will you do to protect your workers?
Nick Clark, GMS’ Safety Manager, emphasized, “As a business owner in California, it’s essential to prioritize indoor heat illness prevention in the workplace. With temperatures rising across the state, you must take extra precautions to ensure your employees’ safety and well-being. Heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke can be severe and, in some cases, even fatal. To prevent these illnesses, you should provide cool and shaded areas for workers to take frequent breaks and access to plenty of water. You should also schedule physically demanding work during the cooler parts of the day and provide appropriate protective clothing. By implementing heat illness prevention measures, employers can protect their employees and improve productivity, reducing the risk of heat-related accidents.”
This proposed indoor heat illness regulation is currently in the 45-day comment period, and the Cal/OSHA Standards Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed regulation on May 18th, 2023.
Partner With GMS
While we wait to hear if this will become a law in California, consider partnering with GMS to ensure the safety of your workers. We work with thousands of businesses and help them comply with all regulations and laws. When you partner with us, we update your employee handbook to reflect the necessary changes. In addition, our team of safety experts will come out to examine your facility to ensure you have complied with the law. Whether you need help creating cool-down spots for your employees or writing a proper emergency response procedure, we do it all. Contact us today.