New California law addresses indoor heat in the workplace

OAKLAND, Calif. - Are you the person at work who brings an indoor fan to cool you off below your desk? Or the type to show up in shorts and a tank top because you tend to run hot?

A new California law has arrived just in time, coincidentally, in mid-summer to help address those issues.

As of July 24, the indoor heat illness prevention rule, adopted by the standards board at the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, regulates indoor workplaces that reach or surpass 82 degrees.

The rule applies to most indoor workplaces, such as restaurants, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities.

"This regulation provides protections for workers across California and helps prepare employers to deal with the challenges of rising temperatures in indoor environments," Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said in a statement. "My team has prepared resources so that employers can quickly comply with the new requirements and ensure their employees’ safety."

What does the new indoor heat illness law say? 

The law requires employers to provide water, cooling areas and monitoring of workers for signs of heat illness whenever it gets hotter than 82 degrees inside the office. 

If temperatures climb to 87 degrees, or workers are required to work near hot equipment, employers must cool the work site. 

If they can't, employers must give more breaks, rotate workers out of hot environments and make other adjustments.

When temps reach 87 degrees, workers also have to provide heat-protective equipment. 

Cool water, and rest

When the temps rise, employers must provide employees with fresh, pure, and suitably cool drinking water, free of charge. 

If there is no running water, employers must provide each employee with one quart of drinking water per hour. 

Employers must allow and encourage employees to take a "preventative cool-down rest" in a cool-down area when employees feel the need to do so to protect themselves from overheating. 

As they're resting, employers must monitor the employees, encourage workers to remain in the cool-down area, and cannot order them back to work until any signs or symptoms of heat illness have been abated. 

Who is exempt from the law? 

Local and state correctional facilities, jails and state prisons, as well as emergency operations directly involved in the protection of life or property are exempted from the regulation for indoor heat. 

Cal/OSHA said their agency is in the process of developing an industry-specific regulation for local and state correctional facilities to protect their workers from indoor heat hazards. 

In the interim, for these exempted employers, Cal/OSHA will continue to inspect potential indoor heat violations under existing regulations.

What happens if an employer doesn’t follow the heat law?

Workers who believe their workplaces are not adequately protecting them from extreme heat conditions can file a complaint with Cal/OSHA online or by calling (833) 579-0927.