Heat Illness Coalition Seeks Outdoor Employers

 

The California Chamber of Commerce is encouraging interested parties to join the Heat Illness Prevention Coalition as it prepares to voice concerns about draft revisions to California’s unique heat illness prevention regulations. The coalition believes the proposal will hurt employers and won’t create safer outdoor workplaces in California. California adopted the first heat illness prevention regulation in the nation in 2005 and remains the only state to regulate the prevention of heat illness.

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) submitted a draft version of proposed amendments to the heat illness prevention regulation to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Board) for rulemaking on May 27. The draft proposal is online at www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/doshreg/heatillprevent.html.

The coalition anticipates a public comment period to open August 1 and the public hearing to occur in mid-September at the Cal/OSHA Standards Board. In the meantime, it is important that employers understand the potential impact of this proposal, and how it changes the current heat illness prevention regulation, Title 8, Section 3395. 

The CalChamber is encouraging businesses to join the coalition to stay informed on action needed regarding the proposed changes. In general, the coalition is concerned that the proposed changes are unnecessary, overly burdensome and would be disruptive to employers already complying with the current requirements.

Cal/OSHA has not shown the need for such far-reaching rules nor provided any evidence of necessity to justify the draft changes. The proposal is unprecedented in its overly prescriptive approach rather than following Cal/OSHA’s long-standing practice of providing performance standards. The coalition also questions whether the provisions are feasible, enforceable and clear enough for compliance.

The coalition will continue to analyze the provisions of the proposal and draft public comments.

Readers who wish to join the coalition and support maintaining a reasonable approach to heat illness prevention in California can sign up by emailing their contact information to heatillness@calchamber.com.

Associations and individual businesses of all sizes with outdoor employees are encouraged to join.