Employer Resources from FELS

Heat Illness Prevention 

Cal/OSHA Provides Indoor Heat Illness Resources: As noted below, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board adopted a new indoor heat illness prevention standard at it's meeting in June.  As of this writing (mid-July 2024) the regulation is pending final approval by the Office of Administrative Law and the regulation's effective date is unknown.

To help employers in understanding and complying with these requirements, Cal/OSHA has developed various educational materials and resources.

New webpages, educational materials, and resources include:

Updated webpages, educational materials, and resources include:

Standards Board Passes Indoor Heat Illness Standard: On June 20, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board led by its new Chair, Joseph Alioto, passed long-delayed Indoor Heat Illness Prevention Standard on a 5-0 vote (business member Kate Crawford abstained). Cal/OSHA representatives at the meeting indicated they intend to request an expedited review of the regulation by the Office of Administrative Law, aiming for an August 1 effective date. This version of the Standard exempts state and local corrections activities, which the agency undertook in an expedited “corrections” procedure provided for in the Administrative Procedures Act in response to budgetary concerns brought to the agency by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Concerns remain about the feasibility and clarity of a number of provisions of the a number of provisions of the regulation as they may apply to facilities that had not been previously understood as “indoor” but may now be (like some packing sheds) and monitoring of temperatures and compliance with temperature limits in vehicles like trucks and tractors.

UPDATE: Cal/OSHA Appeals Board Clarifies Meaning of as Close as Practicable for Providing Drinking Water to Outdoor Employees

For agricultural employers, the latest decision from the Department of Industrial Relations’ Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (OSHAB) is indeed noteworthy.  You can read more here.

Oregon OSHA Publishes Farm Worker Heat Illness Protection Rule: Beginning August 9, 2021, Oregon farm employers will be required to implement protections against high ambient temperatures in employer-provided farm employee housing as a supplement to 2021 emergency heat illness rules.  The new farm employee housing rules require employers to maintain a temperature of no more than 78 degrees Fahrenheit in sleeping rooms and provide cooling areas for housing occupants to cool off when the heat index outside the housing reaches or exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The new rule, supplementing Oregon’s existing heat illness prevention rules, will be effective for 6 months.  

The Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety has created all-new training materials for agricultural employers to use in conducting training required by the Cal/OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Standard (HIP); these include:

• Employer Training Discussion Guides, Visual Aids, and Cal/OSHA Illustrated Poster
• Heat Illness Prevention Accordion Pocket Card for Agricultural Workers 
• Heat Illness Prevention Videos: A farm owner, farmworker, and an agricultural economist discuss the importance of protecting workers from the heat. 

For more information, please contact the Western Center here for written materials, and here for videos.

Heat Illness Prevention and Compliance With Cal/OSHA's HIP Standard 

• FELS HIP Standard Model Program - a FELS Subscriber Resource
• FELS HIP Standard Model Program (Spanish) - a FELS Subscriber Resource
• Cal/OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Resources
• 99 Calor (English); (Spanish)

• FELS Video: Heat Illness Prevention
  
  • Purchase the video here