The U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rule earlier this month that aims to protect workers from heat extremities and the subsequent health risks of extreme heat.

Heat is one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths in the U.S., according to the Environmental Protection Agency. If implemented, the proposed rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would grant protections to an estimated 36 million workers in both indoor and outdoor environments and decrease heat-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities at work. 

Right now, employers are not legally required to give their employees paid 15-minute breaks or cooling time during their shifts. Mike Golden, a lecturer and director of advocacy at the School of Law, noted that while this is not a best practice, it is legally permissible. He said the proposed rule is meant to specify what rights employees are entitled to. 

“The (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) rules are saying … you need to make sure that your employees are protected from heat-related dangers,” Golden said. “OSHA essentially investigates every single workplace fatality that is reported to them … (and) we want to make sure that when issues are serious enough that they can be potentially fatal, employers are taking them very seriously, and that the government is taking them very seriously.” 

Under these rules, employers would also be required to provide training, establish procedures to respond to signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses and take immediate action to assist workers experiencing heat emergencies.

Christine Bolaños, communications director of the Workers Defense Project, said in a statement the organization celebrates OSHA’s newly proposed federal heat rule but recognizes it could take years to implement. 

“Day laborers in Texas are faced with the extreme danger that comes from working in harsh weather climate that has worsened due to the global climate crisis,” Bolaños said. “We need worker protections at both the state and federal level and to implement life-saving measures for our construction workers, our domestic cleaning workers, our warehouse workers, our factory workers and all the people who make this state run.” 

The Department of Labor encourages the public to submit written comments on the rule once it is published in the Federal Register, and a public hearing is also set to be scheduled. 

Ana Gonzalez, director of organizing & advocacy for Texas AFL-CIO, said the state labor federation continues to push for safe workplace standards for all employees, and the ruling would be a step in the right direction if implemented. 

“We fight for all workers, immigrant workers, undocumented workers, documented workers, union members, nonunion workers,” Gonzalez said. “We’re like the umbrella of all the different unions that exist here in Texas, and … we do advocacy work at the local, state and federal level, and making sure that the voices of our members and the needs of our members are the forefront of what we do, that our agendas are driven by them.”