Petition Asking OSHA to Publish Rule To Protect Workers From Heat Stress Denied

A petition calling on the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a regulation protecting workers from heat stress has been formally denied, an advocacy group announced July 5.

The petition, filed by the group Public Citizen Sept. 1, 2011, requested that OSHA launch a heat stress regulation that would require employers to institute engineering controls to keep most workers’ core body temperatures below 100.4 degrees. The petition further requested that employers be required to provide drinking water, rest, and shade, and that the rule apply year-round, to all indoor and outdoor workplaces.

Public Citizen also requested ...