White House Targets Heat-Related Risk to Indoor, Outdoor Workers

(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration is launching a multi-pronged initiative to protect workers from extreme heat after a record-breaking summer that saw a slew of climate-related disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires and floods. 

The initiative would mobilize the federal agencies to develop standards and enforcement measures to protect workers from heat-related illness. 

“Through a new enforcement initiative, OSHA will prioritize heat-related intervention and workplace inspections on days when the heat index exceeds 80 degrees F,” the White House said in a statement Monday.

The plan targets protections for agricultural, construction and delivery workers as well as those working indoors in warehouses, factories and kitchens, and notes that Black, Indigenous, and low-income communities of color are more likely to live in areas with intensifying heat impacts, the White House said.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.