As Extreme Heat Scorches US, Employee Protections Stalled by Politics

July 18, 2025

Last year was the hottest on record, and the century-long warming trend shows no signs of slowing down.

The impact on employees exposed to heat has been profound. In 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 43 workplace deaths due to extreme heat, and OSHA acknowledges that its heat-related work injury figures are likely vast undercounts.

These conditions have led state and federal authorities to consider and, in many cases, enact heat-related workplace safety regulations. However, with federal initiatives stalling, the regulatory response has become increasingly fragmented across many different jurisdictions.

Excessive Heat Exposure

Heat-related workplace injuries represent a serious and escalating threat to employee safety across multiple industries. Illness can begin with seemingly minor symptoms such as heat rash and muscle cramps, but then rapidly progress to life-threatening emergency. Heat exhaustion causes dizziness, excessive sweating, and nausea.

The risk extends beyond obvious outdoor occupations.

While construction and agricultural employees often experience direct sun exposure during physically demanding work, indoor environments present their own heat-related dangers.

Manufacturing facilities with heat-generating equipment, warehouses with poor climate control, and buildings with metal roofs can become heat traps, particularly during heat waves.

Indoor employees face the additional challenge of reduced air circulation and higher humidity levels that prevent effective sweat evaporation, the body’s primary cooling mechanism.

Employees with preexisting medical conditions such as heart disease or diabetes, those taking specific medications, and new employees who haven’t had time to physiologically acclimate to hot working conditions, are especially vulnerable to heat-related injury.

These less experienced employees may also be reluctant to report early symptoms, fearing repercussions or appearing unable to handle the job demands.

Regulatory Uncertainty

To address these issues, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had been developing comprehensive heat injury and illness prevention standards under the Biden administration, with proposed rulemaking issued in August 2024.

These federal standards would have established nationwide requirements for heat injury prevention plans, mandatory drinking water and rest breaks, indoor heat controls and specific protections for employees who haven’t acclimated to hot conditions.

However, the regulatory landscape shifted dramatically after the November elections. Shortly after taking office, the Trump administration implemented a regulatory freeze halting all pending federal rules, including OSHA’s Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Standard.

The administration also terminated heat safety experts from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the research arm that had been instrumental in developing the scientific foundation for the proposed regulations.

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