In midwinter, we focus more on heat retention than heat prevention – even in San Diego. But on Nov. 27, 2024, Cal/OSHA fined Parkwood Landscape Maintenance in Van Nuys $276,425 for willfully violating state heat illness prevention regulations for outdoor workplaces. That is the first fine the agency has issued for willful heat violation. Parkwood has appealed.
Cal/OSHA’s investigation was triggered by a Parkwood employee’s complaint to the agency.
My last column spotlighted the $18,000 of the fine Cal/OSHA imposed for the company’s failure to train its employees in heat illness prevention. This column focuses more broadly on heat illness prevention regulations, including recently issued regulations related to prevention of heat illness in certain indoor workplaces. The quotes are from Cal/OSHA’s posted FAQs about outdoor workplace and indoor workplace heat illness prevention regulations.
Workplaces covered by heat illness prevention regulations
All outdoor workplaces are covered by heat illness prevention regulations. Certain industries, including agriculture, construction and landscaping are subject to additional rules related to worker exposure to “high heat,” meaning temperatures of 95 F or higher.
As of July 23, 2024, indoor workplaces “where the temperature equals or exceeds 82 degrees Fahrenheit when workers are present” also are subject to separate, similar rules. Cal/OSHA generally considers “any workplace with a roof and enclosed sides” an indoor workplace.
Employers must provide access to drinking water
An employer must provide employees working outdoors with an adequate supply of pure, fresh, cool drinking water regardless of outdoor temperature and at no cost to the worker, as must employers at indoor workplaces subject to heat illness prevention regulations. An employer can’t require workers to supply their own water or water containers, even if the employer reimburses workers for the cost.
When drinking water is not supplied from a plumbed source, such as a water fountain, the employer must provide enough water for every worker to drink at least one quart of water, or four 8-ounce cups, per hour for the entire shift. The water must be located as close as possible to where the workers are working. Where the total required quantity of water is not provided at the beginning of the shift, the employer must have effective procedures to replenish the water throughout the shift.
The regulations require employers to encourage their employees to drink water frequently throughout the day by emphasizing the importance of drinking water in training sessions and making the water station inviting and easily accessible.
Cal/OSHA tied $125,000 of Parkwood’s fine — nearly half the total – to what Cal/OSHA labeled willful and serious violations of water-related regulations.
Employers must provide access to shade or cool-down areas
For all outdoor workplaces and for regulated indoor workplaces, employers must provide workers exposed to excessive heat a readily accessible place to cool down. For outdoor workplaces, this may require an employer to erect a shade structure or to provide other natural or artificial means that substantially block direct sunlight in temperatures over 80 F.
Regulated indoor workplaces must have “an indoor or outdoor area that is blocked from direct sunlight and shielded from other high-radiant heat sources and is either open to the air or provided with ventilation or cooling.”
The shade or cool-down area must be large enough for workers taking a rest or recovery period to sit in the area without touching each other, though not necessarily large enough to accommodate all workers on the shift at once.
Employers must encourage and allow workers to take at least a five-minute break in the shade or cooling area when the worker feels the need to do so to keep from overheating. Workers taking a cooling break should not be rushed “since the purpose of the cool-down rest is to reduce heat stress on the worker.”
Employers must develop and provide training on the heat illness prevention
Employers covered by these regulations must develop, implement, and provide training on their written Heat Illness Prevention Plan. In addition to addressing access to water and cool-down spaces, the plan must include procedures for responding to heat-related workplace emergencies, and acclimatizing workers new to hotter work environments. Cal/OSHA’s website has a customizable sample heat illness prevention plan.
Among other things, training must cover the importance of workers reporting signs of heat illness in themselves and co-workers. For outdoor workplaces, Cal/OSHA says training given close to the hot season is more effective than training during colder seasons that is given without follow-up refresher training.
Cal/OSHA posts guidance and resources on heat illness prevention standards, including a comparison of indoor and outdoor regulations. Stay cool, San Diego.
Eaton is a partner with the San Diego law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek where his practice focuses on defending and advising employers. He also is an instructor at the San Diego State University Fowler College of Business where he teaches classes in business ethics and employment law. He may be reached at [email protected].
