California’s New Indoor Heat Illness Rule: What Employers Need to Know Now to Prepare

A new heat illness standard for indoor work areas in California will take effect on August 1. The rule applies to indoor areas where the temperature reaches 82 degrees and will impact employers, particularly in warehouses, distribution centers, restaurants, and manufacturing plants.

1. Workplace Requirements When Temperatures Rise to 82 Degrees

The new rule includes a rigid compliance framework for employers with indoor work areas when the temperature reaches 82 degrees. Employers are required to comply by doing the following:

Develop a Written Heat Illness Prevention Plan

Employers must develop and implement a written plan for preventing indoor heat illness, including procedures for water access, acclimatization, cool-down areas, temperature and heat index measurement, and emergency response measures.

This plan must be customized to your workplace conditions. In a recently published FAQ on the new rule, Cal/OSHA emphasized that a Heat Illness Prevention Plan that restates safety orders does not meet the standard. Instead, it must be specific and tailored to the employer’s operations.

Provide Fresh, Pure, and Suitably Cool Drinking Water

Employers are required to provide employees with fresh, pure, and suitably cool drinking water at no cost. The water should be located as close as possible to where employees are working and in indoor “cool-down areas.” If there is no running water available, each employee must be provided with one quart of drinking water per hour. Employers are also responsible for encouraging frequent water consumption during high-heat conditions.

Cool-Down Rest Periods

Employers must provide cool-down areas for recovery and rest periods that are maintained at a temperature below 82 degrees and shielded from direct sunlight and other high-heat sources.

Employers are required to permit and promote employees to take a “preventative cool-down rest” in a designated cool-down area when employees feel the need to protect themselves from overheating. While taking this preventive cool-down rest, the employer must monitor the employees, encourage them to stay in the cool-down area, and must not instruct them to return to work until any signs or symptoms of heat illness have subsided.

The rule emphasizes that a “preventative cool-down rest period” should be treated the same as a “recovery period” as defined in Labor Code subsection 226.7(a). This means that employees should receive extra pay if they are not given the necessary recovery periods. This change aims to make it easier for employees to take legal action in cases where they are not provided with recovery periods and should be compensated with extra pay.

Acclimatization

Employers need to closely monitor employees who are newly assigned to work in high heat conditions for signs of heat stress during their first 14 days on the job in such conditions. Additionally, all employees working during a heat wave without effective engineering controls should be observed for signs of heat stress.

Training Requirements

Employers must train non-supervisory and supervisory employees on heat illness risks and prevention, including environmental and personal risk factors. Supervisors need additional training on responding to heat illness symptoms and hot weather advisories.

2. Additional Requirements When Temperature Reaches 87 Degrees (or 82 Degrees Under Specific Conditions)

You’ll need to follow additional requirements when the temperature or heat index reaches 87 degrees, or 82 degrees in places where employees wear clothing that restricts heat removal or work in a high radiant heat area.

Measuring and Recording Requirements

You should measure and record the temperature and heat index when it is first suspected to reach 87 degrees (or 82 degrees with employees wearing heat-restrictive clothing or working in a high radiant heat area). Repeat measurements when the temperature is expected to be at least 10 degrees above previous measurements. Involve employees and managers in planning, conducting, and recording measurements, as well as in identifying and evaluating other environmental risk factors for heat illness.

It is necessary to keep records of these measurements, including the time, date, and location, for 12 months or until the net measurements are taken. However, an employer has the option of not taking measurements and instead assuming that a work area triggers the control measures, as discussed below. In this case, the employer must follow the hierarchy of control measures.

Control Measures

The new rule requires employers to follow a hierarchy of control measures to reduce the risk of heat illness. This is likely to result in significantly higher costs for employers, especially when considering engineering controls such as air conditioning systems and other building upgrades. These control measures are not required for vehicles with effective and functioning air conditioning.

Employers must first use engineering controls to lower the temperature and heat index to below 87 degrees Fahrenheit (or 82 degrees Fahrenheit if employees wear clothing that limits heat removal or work in high radiant heat areas). Cal/OSHA provides examples of engineering controls that can help reduce the risk of heat illness: Isolation of hot processes

• Isolation of employees from sources of heat
• Air conditioning
• Cool fans and cooling mist fans
• Evaporative coolers (swamp coolers)
• Natural ventilation where the outdoor temperature/heat index is lower than the indoor temperature/heat index
• Local exhaust ventilation
• Shielding from a radiant heat source
• Insulation of hot surfaces

If engineering controls can’t lower the temperature and heat index below 87 degrees (or 82 degrees when applicable), employers should use administrative controls to minimize the risk of heat illness. However, they must still use engineering controls to reduce the temperature and heat index to the lowest feasible level.

Examples of administrative controls include:

• acclimatizing employees,
• rotating employees, scheduling work earlier or later in the day,
• using work/rest schedules,
• reducing work intensity or speed,
• reducing work hours,
• changing required work clothing,
• and using relief workers.

Cal/OSHA has clarified through FAQs that the feasibility of engineering controls is a “fact-sensitive question.” This evaluation includes considering the size, configuration, and location of the indoor workspace, the sources of radiant heat, and the nature of the work being performed by workers, among other factors.”

Finally, if feasible engineering and administrative controls are inadequate, employers must use personal heat-protective equipment, such as water-cooled or air-cooled garments, as a last resort to minimize the risk of heat illness.

For further information, please contact DineHR at (866) 231-3463

The information provided on this website is for information purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your restaurant or situation.