No national heat protection rules yet, but workers push through soaring temperatures

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA is considering a nationwide rule to standardize protections for workers in extreme heat, if the Trump Administration signs on.

Right now, there are no formal heat safety rules for businesses. While that might change shortly, some construction workers say they’re doing the best they can. 

“The workers, if they need a break, they take it. The industry in Utah is pretty good, and I think we have a good understanding of what we need to do,” Angel Brito, a construction worker for Ralf Wadsworth Construction, said. 

Brito has worked in construction for more than 15 years, and he says he learned the hard way what extreme heat can do on the job site. 

“I wasn’t prepared to go to the job site, and I didn’t bring enough water. The company provided water, but I just kept working and doing my thing, and it was probably 100 or 115 degrees, and I started feeling disoriented and tired,” Brito said. 

Luckily, he got help just in time. 

“At that point, I stopped and got help from one of our crew members. They gave me water and electrolytes, and I started feeling better after a while, after I was in the shade for probably an hour to half an hour,” Brito said. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracker says there are about 40,000 heat-related illnesses and injuries in the workplace each year. Across the country, there are no standard rules for how employers should protect their workers from the heat, which is the biggest weather-related killer.  

As summers are getting warmer, workers like Brito are spending more time in the heat. 

Brito’s safety manager, Zane Smith, works to keep the crew safe, adapting to warm conditions. 

“We would start our crews at 2 am, so they could be done before it starts to get hot at 10 am, and we brought pallets and pallets of water to keep them hydrated,” Smith said. 

Even though there is no formal heat safety standard yet, OSHA can cite employers after a heat-related illness injury or death if they did not provide water, shade, or rest. 

“Our work is each day in the heat doing the work. We have expected production, but sometimes the heat takes a toll on them. We do care about our employees, so we need to listen to them, and if they’re not feeling well, then we need to expect sometimes those productions aren’t going to be as high as expected or planned,” Smith said. 

A formal nationwide heat rule is not expected until later this year or early next year, depending on what they decide in Washington, DC.