The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will start the rulemaking process today to create a new federal heat standard. There aren’t many details yet on what the rule might look like, but the Biden administration’s announcement hints at a few things it could cover: thresholds for heat stress, heat exposure monitoring, and planning for acclimating to heat.
OSHA also plans to beef up enforcement of existing labor standards when it comes to heat-related hazards. When the heat index — a measure that includes humidity and temperature — rises above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the agency says it will “prioritize” heat-related issues when it comes to workplace inspections and interventions. It also plans to pay closer attention to industries it deems as having a higher risk of heat stress, including agriculture, construction, delivery workers, and warehouses.
This should've always been considered
I can’t wait to see the regulations that they come up with. I’m sure they will powerful and comprehensive, and not industry captured bullshit that fails to actually address the issues.
"One 5 minute water break for every 4.1 hours of work under uninterrupted direct sunlight with temperatures above 90 degrees and humidity at or above 90%". Something token and useless for the vast majority of people who actually need it. Oh your shift is only 4 hours and a cloud floated by once so you had partial shade. Sorry no break back to work!
Warehouse owners in shambles.
When the heat index — a measure that includes humidity and temperature — rises above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the agency says it will “prioritize” heat-related issues when it comes to workplace inspections and interventions.
That number is WAY lower than I would have expected, I'm curious to see how this will play out.
Warehouse owners in shambles.
Class of owners very well known for following and respecting OSHA guidelines.
"OSHA budget slashed by 90%, 'No money for inspections,' former employee states"
I remember it probably being well into the 90s even during the graveyard shift at Amazon until after midnight. The AC was a joke when there are hundreds of robots running around.
That number is WAY lower than I would have expected, I'm curious to see how this will play out.
It's lower than my threshold. I get uncomfortable at 27C and begin to cooldown the room I'm in when this happens. I make a habit of checking the temperature whenever I naturally reach "I need to cooldown the room" and it's always somewhere between 27-28. 80 farenheit is 26.66
I hate to say it, but this is a dub for the union-democrat lobbying-gotv relationship.
If Texas hadn't banned local municipalities from setting water break standards for outdoor work, this would never have happened because the DNC is at best reactionary. Therefore, thanks Texas chuds in power for forcing the Biden admin to do literally anything positive for once.
Lol, reactionary thinking eventually comes for its own.
I believe this is geting put on the list due to workers not being as fungible in the past, I live in a western state that takes heat very seriously, immigration is down across the board, boarders are very closed. We do have significant inelastic labor supply for the foreseeable future. I think sections of are copetlists realize you shouldn't let man child bougeious mulch perfectly good workers because they can't be fucked to install a ac in the wearhouse. Thats my angle at least for now.
In bougeious circles their is a lot of talk about increasing productivity, we might see a lot of measures in the near future that increase employee health to get more productivity, things like 7/7 scheduling, they did this in the 1970s but didn't go that far unlike Japan and Nordic counties the idea is happy people are more productive which is empirical, problem is the 80s they opened the boarders and flooded the lowest end of the working class so they could turn people more disposable.
Im not sold that the American ruling class will be nice even if they have every incentive. Time and time again they prove them selves to choose hate and loathing, even when it marginal more profit to be nice to workers.
My threshold for heat stress is 27C. When my room temp hits this I always have to immediately cooldown.
Can't wait to see how they square this with existing laws that govern work place temperatures, e.g. some states have law stating their temp of an indoor pool must be 5°F warmer than the water.
Whow ouldve thunk that dangerous heat is dangerous? tim allen grunt
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Galaxy Brain idea: Get actual action against climate change by claiming that, since there are people who work outside, climate change creates a hazardous work environment.
I'm just kidding, that will never work. The judge would just say "no" with no reasoning behind it.
