Organizations Involved: Environmental Defense Fund
Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Abstract
These comments support the Heat Injury Proposal as a critical step in OSHA’s efforts to develop strong heat stress and injury prevention standards to protect workers. As OSHA acknowledges in its proposed rule, heat is the leading cause of death among all weather-related phenomena in the United States. Establishing robust heat standards would substantially reduce the risk posed to workers by occupational exposure to hazardous heat. Occupational exposure to hazardous heat is deeply intertwined with environmental justice, and, as OSHA notes in its proposed rule, this rule would have “a positive impact on underserved populations (e.g., low-income and Hispanic workers) by providing workplace protections from extreme temperatures that have a disproportionate impact on occupations held by individuals from underserved communities.” EDF strongly supports OSHA’s Heat injury Proposal and its complementary research, education, and enforcement initiatives. EDF offers recommendations for OSHA’s consideration, commends OSHA on this vital proposal, and urges its swift finalization.
