Workplace Heat Protection Bill: Pennsylvania eyes protections for outdoor workers
Workplace Heat Protection Bill: Pennsylvania eyes protections for outdoor workers
Lawmakers in Pennsylvania are getting serious about the health hazards of extreme heat. If passed, the Workplace Heat Protection bill would require employers of people who work outdoors to provide water, shade, paid heat breaks, and heat safety training.
PHILADELPHIA - Lawmakers in Pennsylvania are getting serious about the health hazards of extreme heat with a new piece of legislation that would require employers to provide health protections for outdoor workers.
What we know:
If passed, the Workplace Heat Protection Bill would require the employers of outdoor workers to provide water, shade, paid heat breaks, and heat safety training once the heat index reaches 80 degrees.
Additional protections will kick in when the heat index climbs above 90 degrees for outdoor workers like roofers, landscapers, and construction workers.
Pennsylvania State Rep. Elizabeth Fielder says Pennsylvania does not currently have workplace heat protection standards, leaving workers vulnerable to health hazards.
Lawmakers hope the proposed bill also covers kitchen staff, delivery drivers, and warehouse/manufacturing facilities.
The other side:
Opponents of the Workplace Heat Protection Bill have raised concerns about the potential cost and added regulations associated with the bill.
What they're saying:
State Senator Tim Kearney, a democrat from Delaware County, is advocating for the bill, calling it "common sense guidelines."
"These are jobs that need to get done and we want people to do them in the heat and in the cold and in the rain and everything else," Kearney said. "We just want the common sense guidelines to be in effect to basically set the rules straight."