Assembly Labor Committee Approves “Worker Heat Safety Act”

Legislation authored by Senator Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) that seeks to protect workers from dangerously high temperatures within warehouses and other work locations in California passed the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee June 22. Sponsored by the California Labor Federation, International Longshore and Warehouse Union and California Conference of Machinists, SB 1167 would protect indoor workers in the same way as outdoor workers, such as agricultural workers and landscaping workers, are already covered by high heat standards. Specifically, SB 1167 would require the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) to — by July 1, 2018 — propose to the Occupational Health and Safety Standards Board for its adoption a heat illness and injury prevention standard for all indoor employees at risk of heat illness. Currently, there are no indoor heat regulations in place for indoor workers, such as warehouse and factory workers, leaving many employees in California at risk for heat illness and other high temperature hazards. The instructional informational sheet currently distributed to employers as part of the Illness Injury Prevention Program to protect workers has proven insufficient in preventing indoor heat illness injuries in many indoor work environments. “The lack of a clear heat standard for indoor workers in California can endanger the health and safety of these workers across the state,” Leyva said. “SB 1167 will help move California in a direction where heat dangers are taken seriously for all employees, including those that work in indoor settings. These hot summer months are a clear reminder to all of us that we need to protect employees that work both indoors and outdoors from heat illness and heat temperature hazards.” The warehousing industry is a major employer in California, employing over 100,000 warehouse workers in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties alone. Unfortunately, some employers in that industry oftentimes hire temporary workers who are paid low wages and must work in unsafe and unhealthy employment conditions. During summer months when temperatures rise well above 100 degrees in counties throughout California — including in the 20th State Senate District — temperatures inside non climate-controlled warehouses and buildings can rise even higher. The Assembly Appropriations Committee will next consider SB 1167.