In July 2024, the bid administration proposed a rule to eliminate a heat-related disease from which it claimed that it would protect 36 million workers.
The guideline would have obliged companies to monitor the employees at heat stress, to provide them with cooling breaks in shaded or air -conditioned areas and ensure that they were given plenty of water.
“The purpose of this rule is easy,” said a White House Official House at the time. “The number of deaths, injuries and illnesses in connection with workers should significantly reduce the suffered by employees who are exposed to excessive heat … while simply doing their work.”
However, the rule would have shown the first federal standard to regulate the increasing dangers of climate change, but was never concluded. And now there is very little hope with Donald Trump in the White House that it will be implemented.
David Keeling's nomination to lead the Osha
In February, Trump nominated David Keeling to lead the occupational safety administration (OSHA). Keeling still has to be confirmed, but since he is a former manager of Amazon and UPS, most assume that he will not accept the proposed heat sails.
Keeling supervised health and security protocols in these companies and according to an investigation by an investigation The leverSam Pollak, they received over 300 security quotes in the workplace, while he was responsible for what Osha's levels of $ 2 million complemented. The quotes included several heat incidents.
The Republicans do not wait for Keeling to conquer the authority to question the proposed regulations of the bidges. On March 19, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), Chairman of the Committee for Training and Labor, sent a letter to the newly confirmed Minister of Lori Chavez-Deremer, who asked the Ministry of Labor (DOL) to withdraw from the rule and save several additional OSHA guidelines.
“The committee acknowledges that many stressful regulations were developed in DOL during the bida-harris administration,” wrote Walberg.
When the GOP-controlled committee held a hearing on May 15, the topic of Osha's alleged “handing over” was in relation to heat regulations. The Republicans showed statements from a number of economic witnesses, including Felicia Watson, Senior Counsel with Littler Mendelson, who supports employers and has a history of defending the union tenders.
“I spoke to people in New Mexico who say that 80 degrees is a great day to build – it's perfect weather and you may have something completely different in Florida,” said Watson.
These feelings were repeated by another Republican witness, Jake Parson, an executive of a building materials company that testified in the name of the National Association of Manufacturers. Parson told the congress members: “When it comes to heat, what Maine makes sense for Texas is no sense.”
“The Osha standards are the minimum minimum when it comes to security at work. Every legislator who reverses them only wants his billionaire drivers to make another cent.”
Both witnesses were challenged by Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), a committee member who took a thirst strike in 2023 in order to highlight the need for a federal heat standard at the workplace.
“It sounds like they say that we have different conditions in Maine than in Texas,” said Casar. “But I'm confused when it is 90 degrees in Austin or 90 degrees in Maine, 90 degrees are still 90 degrees.”
State regulations
Without strong guidelines at the federal level, employees must rely on the rules of their state.
California, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have accepted all kinds and similar efforts in the workplace, and similar efforts are urged in Arizona, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Rhode Island.
“The political decision -makers do not have to start all over,” says a recent report on American progress. “The current state guidelines and the draft of the heating standard of the bidges give guidelines for the takeover or adaptation of heat standards and can strengthen protection for outdoor and indoor workers.”
This struggle has proven to be a tough struggle in states that are led by anti-regulation republicans.
In April 2024, Florida Governor Ron Desantis signed a legislation that looked at places in Florida in which companies provide for employees outdoors, shadows and water. The move effectively killed a Miami-Dade effort to create such protection in the county.
At a press conference, Desantis admitted that the GOP plan was developed to make victory in Miami invalid.
“There was a great concern from a district, Miami-Dade. And I don't think it was a problem in another part of the state,” said the governor. “I think they pursued something that would cause many problems down there.”
Labor Advocates in Austin faced a similar setback in 2024 when the governor of Texas Greg Abbott adopted the law of “Death Star” and killed a Rast Break regulation adopted by the city.
Ana Gonzalez Ana Gonzalez from Texas Afl-Cio and Interest representation told Truth That such developments underline the need to build negotiating power at the workplace.
“The Osha standards are the minimum minimum when it comes to security at work. Every legislator who reverses them only wants its billionaire drivers to make another cent,” said Gonzalez. “The Texans have survived worse storms, but with hotter summer we have to organize every workplace to demand better security standards. Otherwise our state will continue to lead the nation of deaths and work in the workplace.”
Trump's broader war against Osha
The Trump government's war against security at the workplace is certainly not limited to heat regulations.
President Trump has effectively closed the National Institute of Security and Health of the National Institute, made several local Osha offices, enables Elon Musk's “Department of Government Efficiency” to access sensitive OSHA files, and lead a rule through the exposure of silica exposure, which can lead to severe health problems such as lung cancer.
In a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute, it is pointed out that every year between 5.2 and 7.8 million workers already suffer work-related injuries and illnesses, a number that is expected to increase as part of the Trump management.
The Consumer Rights Group Public Citizen estimates that heat exposure leads to 600 to 2,000 deaths for workers every year.
The report also notes that weakened regulations in the workplace disproportionately influence the employees of colors, employees of migration background and older workers. Over 33 percent of deaths at the workplace of 2023 occurred among employees aged 55 and over, while 67 percent of the employees killed were immigrants. Black and Latino workers die more often as a white worker during work.
“The bad news is that we are confronted with a national crisis of employee rights, which is promoted by attacks by the Trump government to the health and security protection of employees and the OSHA enforcement capacity, while climate change reinforces the risk of fatal exposure in extreme heat in indoor and outdoor workplaces in the whole country” Truth.
“The good news is that states do not have to wait to act and to act strong and effective warming standard guidelines that are supported by research and evidence-based best practice to prevent deaths in the workplace and to increase productivity,” she added.
The public citizens of the Consumer Rights Group estimates that heat exposure leads to 600 to 2,000 workers every year and around 170,000 working injuries. The situation threatens to make itself much worse with increasing climate change – 2024 was the warmest year ever. According to the World Meteorological Organization, there is an opportunity of 80 percent that at least one of the next five years will exceed this brand.
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