California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board Approves Heat Illness Prevention Regulation

At a Glance

• On June 20, 2024, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board unanimously voted to adopt a new regulation codified at California Code of Regulations, Title 8, section 3396, focusing on Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment, following an earlier unsuccessful attempt to pass a proposed indoor heat regulation.
• The new regulation mandates indoor heat illness training; sets trigger points at 82°F and 87°F; requires administrative and engineering controls; outlines procedures for providing water and access to cool-down areas; specifies acclimatization protocols; and details emergency response requirements.
• While it is unknown how long the Office of Administrative Law will take to evaluate the regulation, it could be implemented as early as August 1, 2024.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Board) has approved a new regulation for Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment. The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has 30 working days to review the new regulation. The Board has asked that the regulation take effect immediately once approved by the OAL. A summary of the new regulation follows.

The new regulation applies to workplaces where the indoor temperature reaches 82°F when employees are present. There are some exceptions, such as:

• Places of employment where employees are teleworking from a location of the employee’s choice, which is not under the control of the employer.
• Incidental heat exposures where an employee is exposed to temperatures at or above 82 degrees Fahrenheit and below 95 degrees Fahrenheit for less than 15 minutes in any 60-minute period. This exception, however, does not apply to vehicles without effective and functioning air conditioning or shipping or intermodal containers during loading, unloading or related work.

The regulation requires employers to take measures to protect workers from heat illness. Some of the requirements include:

• Providing Water: Employees must have access to potable drinking water that is provided free of charge. Where drinking water is not plumbed or otherwise continuously supplied, it needs to be provided in sufficient quantity at the beginning of the work shift to provide one quart per employee per hour for drinking for the entire shift. That said, an employer can begin the shift with smaller quantities of water if the employer has effective procedures for replenishment during the shift as needed to allow employees to drink one quart or more per hour.
• Access to Cool-Down Areas: Employers must have — and must maintain — one or more cool-down area at all times while employees are present. The cool-down area needs to be at least large enough to accommodate the number of employees on recovery or rest periods.
• Rest Periods: Employers must allow and encourage employees to take preventative cool-down rests in a cool-down area when employees feel the need to do so and to protect themselves from overheating. The regulation specifically provides that such access to cool-down areas must be permitted at all times. Additional requirements apply when an employee takes a preventative cool-down rest, such as monitoring the employee and asking the employee if they are experiencing symptoms of heat illness or providing first aid or emergency response if the employee exhibits signs or reports symptoms of heat illness.
• Assessment and Control Measures: Measure the temperature and heat index and record whichever is greater whenever the temperature or heat index reaches 87°F (or the temperature reaches 82°F for workers working in clothing that restricts heat removal or high-radiant-heat areas) and implement control measures, including engineering controls, to keep workers safe.
• Emergency Response Procedures: Employers are required to implement emergency response procedures which include:
  1. Ensuring effective communication so that employees can contact a supervisor or emergency medical services.
  2. Responding to signs and symptoms of possible heat illness services.
  3. Contacting emergency medical services and, if necessary, transporting employees to a place where they can be reached by an emergency responder.
  4. Ensuring that, in the event of an emergency, clear and precise directions to the worksite can and will be provided as needed to emergency responders.
• Acclimatization: All employees need to be closely observed by a supervisor during a heat wave where there are no effective engineering controls to control indoor temperature. In addition, an employee who has been newly assigned to any of the following locations needs to be closely observed by a supervisor for the first 14 days of employment:
  1. In a work area where the temperature or heat index, whichever is greater, equals or exceeds 87 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. In a work area where the temperature equals or exceeds 82 degrees Fahrenheit for employees who wear clothing that restricts heat removal.
  3. In a high radiant heat area where the temperature equals or exceeds 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Training: Employers must provide training on protecting workers from heat illness to both workers and supervisors.

Finally, employers must establish, implement and maintain an effective written Indoor Heat Illness Prevention Plan. This plan may be included as part of the employer’s Injury and Illness Prevention Program and must be available in writing — in both English and the language understood by the majority of the employees — and shall be made available at the worksite to employees and Cal/OSHA upon request.

Some employers may be covered under Cal/OSHA’s indoor and Outdoor Regulations if they have both indoor and outdoor workplaces. Cal/OSHA has also published a useful comparison chart.