Hearing Forecasts Partisan Split Over Heat Protection Bill

Questions on whether a single rule for preventing heat illnesses could be applied to employers in all industries dominated a July 11 hearing by the House Subcommittee of Workforce Protections.

Democratic House members have said passing a heat protection bill, introduced July 10, and a workplace violence prevention bill covering the health-care industry, are among their highest labor-related priorities.

But Rep. Bradley Byrne (Ala.), the subcommittee’s senior Republican, said that Democrats “appear to be scrambling to force the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to impose another one-size-fits-all federal mandate.”

Occupational health professionals testifying on behalf of the bill, which ...