MINNESOTA, USA — Right now, states have different laws when it comes to protecting workers in excessive heat.
According to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, states like California and Washington have specific outdoor heat exposure standards, but Minnesota does not.
Minnesota does have hot and cold standards for work that occurs indoors, but not outdoors. However, Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says employers have a “responsibility to protect workers from heat-related hazards.”
Minnesota Democratic representatives Ilhan Omar, Dean Phillips and Betty McCollum have joined more than 100 members of Congress in a joint letter that was sent to federal labor leaders and OSHA last month to encourage the agency to create strict guidelines to keep workers safe from excessive heat.
“We want to try and create a nationwide policy to protect these workers,” Omar explained.
"Theoretically these kinds of protections exist. OSHA has the ability to regulate in these spaces.”
But Omar says the protections are currently open for interpretation and aren’t clearly defined, as a recent case in Texas has shown.
She and the other lawmakers who signed the letter are asking OSHA to set requirements for water breaks, rest breaks, access to shaded areas for workers, and medical services and training so managers can identify heat-related illness.
Omar says federal labor leaders have created a task force to look at this issue, so she's hopeful a federal standard will be released soon.
"It might not impact what we're experiencing this summer, but hopefully it will have an impact on people's lives next summer."
Some trade organizations, including some in the construction industry, have spoken out against OSHA creating a uniform standard for workers and heat exposure.
These organizations argue that one overall standard would not be appropriate since every industry and job is different.
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