By Staff Reporter |

Arizona will require all employers to have a “heat illness prevention plan.”

Last week, the 24-member Workplace Heat Safety Task Force issued its final recommendations containing the plan at the behest of Governor Katie Hobbs. These recommendations were the culmination of four meetings that took place over the summer and fall. 

The proposed plan would require employers to adhere to additional regulations for provisions of water, shade, rest breaks, acclimatization, and trainings.

Employers would be required to provide ready access to free, potable drinking water under 60 degrees and signage encouraging employees to hydrate. Employers would need to ensure that water sources not plumbed or continuously supplied amount to one quart per employee per hour for the entire shift. 

Employers would also be required to provide shade that is open to the air on at least three sides, or mechanically ventilated, and large enough for employees taking their breaks “to sit in a natural posture.” For breaks, employers must allow employees to take “preventative cool-down rest” whenever they “feel” they need it, as frequently and as long as they feel is necessary. 

Additionally, employers must have an acclimatization plan that they develop that factors acclimated and unacclimated workers, the effects of clothing and personal protective equipment on adding to the heat burden of workers, risk factors that put workers at a higher risk of heat-related illness, and re-acclimatizing workers as necessary. Alternatively, employers may adopt an acclimatization plan that aligns with the acclimatization plan developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Employers must provide annual training to employees that covers employer responsibilities and employee rights, signs and risks of heat illness, and the importance and means of heat illness prevention.

The plan did include some exemptions: workplaces with incidental heat exposures where employees aren’t required to perform work activities in heat for over 15 minutes in any 60-minute period, emergency operations directly involved in the protection of life or property, and buildings and structures with cooling systems that keep the heat index below 80 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Hobbs said the reforms are “commonsense” and would allow the economy to advance further.

Much of these proposed requirements align with the water, rest, shade, and written heat mitigation plan recommendations issued by inspectors operating under the Industrial Commission of Arizona’s (ICA) Heat Stress State Emphasis Program, launched back in July 2023.

That program led the governor to issue an executive order establishing the task force in May. 

The Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) Advisory Committee will review these recommendations in a public meeting on Feb. 4. Then, the ADOSH Advisory Committee will submit their version of the recommendations to the Industrial Committee for final consideration at a later date sometime this spring.

Once the recommendations are finalized, ADOSH will disseminate the requirements through their communication channels and online at some point prior to this upcoming summer.

ADOSH will also continue to publish annual data on heat-related claims, complaints, and citations to evaluate recommendation impacts.

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