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The
group asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to
issue new standards on adequate water and sheltered rest breaks,
medical training to identify heat-related illness and a plan for
workplaces to adjust their operations during times of
dangerously high heat.
The move comes as the U.S. experiences a summer of
record-breaking heat in some cities. Lawmakers cited the recent
heat-related deaths of two Texans, a U.S. Postal Service
employee who died on his route in 115 degree Fahrenheit (46°C)
heat and a 35-year-old electrical lineman restoring power who
likely died from heat exhaustion.
"These heat waves are dangerous, they are life-threatening, and
– with the devastating effects of climate change – they are only
getting worse," Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the lawmakers who
signed the letter, said in a statement. "I urge the
administration to move quickly to create this national heat
standard to protect workers on the job.
The lawmaker asked OSHA to model the new standards after a 2022
bill that Congress never took up, the Asuncion Valdivia Heat
Illness and Fatalities Prevention Act, named after the death of
a California farm worker who died after picking grapes for ten
hours in 105 F (41°C) temperatures in 2004.
(Reporting by Josephine Walker; Editing by Scott Malone and
Marguerita Choy)
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