OSHA's new rule would focus on heat related illnesses in workplaces after record high temperatures caused hundreds of deaths in the Pacific Northwest.
The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is set to issue a new rule to combat heat illness when the heat index is over 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
The White House said the rule was a significant step toward a federal heat standard, and officials will expand the scope of inspections to address heat-related hazards in U.S. workplaces.The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is set to issue a new rule regarding heat-related illness in workplaces on days where the heat index exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
As part of the administration's plan, the Labor Department is launching a program to protect outdoor workers, including agricultural, construction and delivery workers, as well as those working indoors in warehouses, factories and kitchens. Farm and construction workers are at greatest risk of heat stroke and other problems, the White House said, but other workers lacking climate-controlled environments also face risks.
The administration also will expand its Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to add programs to address extreme heat, the White House said. The program traditionally focuses on providing heat during winter weather, but also offers help with purchasing air conditioning units or paying electric bills for cooling assistance. Those programs will be expanded, and officials will conduct targeted outreach to ensure at-risk households are in a safe temperature environment, McCarthy said.
"We have to act, and we have to act now,'' Biden said, evoking the"damage and destruction" he has seen in the United States, massive flooding in Europe and other global damage from the warming climate as natural disasters increase in number and severity.
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