US House Labor Panel OKs Bill Requiring Worker Heat Protections

A US House labor panel advanced legislation mandating that the Labor Department’s workplace safety arm create a heat stress standard—a repeatedly requested step meant to protect workers in agriculture and other occupations.

The House Education and Labor Committee voted 27-19 Wednesday to advance the bill (H.R. 2193), known as the Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act. The legislation is named after a farmworker who died after toiling for hours in the heat.

The DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is working on a heat stress standard, but this measure would require the agency does so ...