ASA Comments on OSHA’s Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Panel

On December 20, 2023, ASA joined the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC) in submitting comments in response to OSHA’s Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Settings.  In accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), OSHA convened a Small Business Advocacy Review panel (SBAR Panel) in August 2023, which facilitated a series of video conferences engaging Small Entity Representatives (SERs) from various industries.

In the comments, we opposed the creation of a prescriptive ‘one-size-fits’ all approach to heat illness. Without the flexibility to tailor heat illness programs based on an employer’s unique use environments, a rigid rule carries the substantial risk of being unduly burdensome and cost prohibitive, while failing to effectively protect workers from the specific hazards which would be identified through a site specific and tailored risk assessment.” We also noted that if OSHA does go forward with a new standard, OSHA should eliminate the expanded heat-illness-related recordkeeping requirements, as well as other rigid requirements, such as prescriptive temperate thresholds, that fail to consider the unique workforces and varying climates across the United States.