By Jacob Roes, Patrick Joyce, Ilana Morady, and Adam Young
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Cal/OSHA Standards Board unanimously voted to approve Cal/OSHA’s indoor heat rule at the June 20, 2024 Standards Board meeting. Employers should be prepared to comply within the next 30-60 days.
Originally expected to be approved at the Standards Board’s March 21, 2024, meeting, the Cal/OSHA indoor heat rule underwent minor revisions before it was reintroduced to the Board for adoption at the June 20, 2024, meeting. The Board unanimously adopted the rule.
As detailed in our prior blog post, the indoor heat rule was rejected in March due to the state Department of Finance withdrawing a portion of its Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment (SRIA) on the eve of the scheduled vote.
Between the March and June meetings, the Standards Board issued a slightly modified draft exempting correctional facilities, clarifying use of the “heat index” chart, and making other minor revisions. The approved draft rule maintains previous requirements for heat illness prevention plans, training, temperature trigger points of 82°F and 87°F, temperature monitoring, administrative and engineering controls, water provision, access to cool-down areas, acclimatization procedures, and emergency response protocols.
What’s Next
The indoor heat rule will now be sent to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), which will review it for compliance with the California Administrative Procedure Act and integrate it into the administrative rules. The OAL has 30 days to approve or disapprove the indoor heat rule. The Board Chair informally requested the OAL to expedite finalization of the regulation. The Cal/OSHA Deputy Chief noted that he will request immediate enactment of the regulation upon OAL approval, though immediate enactment is not guaranteed.
If the OAL approves the rule but does not make it effective immediately, employers can expect an effective date of October 1, 2024. If OAL makes it effective immediately, employers can expect an effective date as early as August 1, 2024. The final approved text of the indoor hear rule can be found here https://www.dir.ca.gov/oshsb/documents/Indoor-Heat-updated-txtbrdconsider.pdf.
Workplace Solutions and Implementation
With the rule approved by the Standards Board, employers should be prepared to comply within the next 30-60 days. For a detailed analysis of the rule and its background, refer to our prior blog post.
While the rule has gone through minor revisions since the March 2024 meeting, key requirements remain for a written policy, training, temperature trigger points, temperature monitoring and logging, administrative and engineering controls, water provision, cool-down areas, acclimatization, and emergency response.