California has suffered some of its worst heat waves on record in recent years. As climate change accelerates, few are as directly threatened as people working outdoors and in facilities without air conditioning.
Outdoor laborers, such as farmworkers and construction crews, have some protection under heat illness prevention standards California adopted nearly two decades ago requiring employers to provide drinking water, shade and rest breaks to recuperate from the heat. But more than a million other workers in largely non-air-conditioned warehouses, factories, kitchens and other workplaces remain unprotected, despite a legal deadline to have indoor heat standards in place by 2019.
Late last month the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, announced it will hold a public hearing on its proposed indoor heat standards on May 18. But a decision on whether to adopt them could take months, and officials say there is no chance the rules will be in place as we approach another hot summer. That’s unacceptable. Workers need protections now.
