August 2024 Volume 6

OSHA RELEASES INDOOR HEAT RULE By Omar S. Nashashibi WASHINGTON UPDATE

Injury Illness Prevention Plan (HIIPP) in place with site-specific information. The employer must seek the input and involvement of non-managerial employees and their representatives in the develop ment and implementation of the HIIPP and must make the plan readily available at the worksite to all employees. The proposed rule goes beyond the initial framework and requires that the HIIPP be available in a language each employee, supervisor, and heat safety coordinator understands. Furthermore, employers are required to train non-management employees at their literacy level as to the heat plan and guidelines for that facility. Many are raising concerns over the recordkeeping requirements including the requirement for the employer to conduct on-site temperature measurements at indoor work areas and maintain written or electronic records of those indoor work area measure ment records for six months. The onus placed on supervisors is significant as they must undergo specific training on heat illness intervention and response and monitor employees for signs of heat illness. Pre-shift meetings and warnings, employee observation, a mandatory buddy system for co-workers, and a limitation of no more than twenty employees observed by a single supervisor are additional requirements under the standard. The topic of acclimatizing employees to the heat environment received significant attention during the OSHA listening sessions leading up to the rule. The July 2nd release requires employers to implement acclimatization protocols for each employee who has been away for more than fourteen days. During their first week upon returning, OSHA is calling for a gradual acclimatization to heat exposure by restricting the returning employee to no more than 50 percent of the normal work shift on their first day; 60 percent on the second day of work and 80 percent on the third day. However, for new employees, the proposed rule limits the new hire to 20 percent on the first day, 40 percent on day two and not reaching a full-time work shift until the fifth day. In all cases, the employer must pay based upon an eight-hour day with OSHA suggesting the employer find other work for the individual to perform. The weather acclimatization requirements, as outlined in the proposed rule, do not apply if the employer can demonstrate that the employee consis tently worked under the same or similar conditions as the employer’s working conditions within the prior fourteen days. The goal of the rule is to improve workplace safety, though some of the recommendations and requirements fall far short of improving the safety environment and are simply not feasible to implement in the forging industry. The proposed rule would require employers to provide at each work area increased air movement such as fans or comparable natural ventilation, air-conditioned work areas, or shields and other barriers to isolate and reduce exposure in cases of radiant heat sources.

O n July 2, 2024, OSHA previewed its long-awaited proposed rule titled, Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings . The proposed standard applies to all manufacturing operations regardless of size, requiring employers to create a plan to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplace. The FIA filed multiple comments with OSHA, in January 2022 and October 2023, raising concern over the one-size-fits-all approach the federal regulators are taking and the feasibility of reducing the indoor work area temperature to the levels put forward. The OSHA heat regulation is currently in the proposed rule stage with a 120-day public comment period ahead. Many believe that given the lengthy review process and expected volume of stakeholder input, a final rule may not take effect until late next year or in 2026. Sources in Washington, D.C. also believe that the outcome of the November elections may impact the rule’s timing and fate, as will the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions related to the Chevron defer ence case. However, employers across all sectors are taking notice of the potential action by federal regulators and those of states and municipalities such as California and Phoenix that are implementing their own heat-based workplace regulations. The proposed rule varies slightly from the initial draft framework released last year and sets the initial heat trigger threshold at 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the high heat trigger at 90 degrees instead of the 87 degrees floated last year. Should OSHA finalize the rule as written, the agency would require employers to mandate that employees take paid rest breaks of fifteen minutes at least every two hours upon reaching the 90oF high heat trigger, with donning and doffing PPE and walking to and from the break areas not counting towards that fifteen-minute requirement. Employers with more than ten employees must have a written Heat

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FIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2024