By National Association of Home Builders
The National Association of Home Builders’ continuing advocacy for a flexible, performance-based alternative to OSHA’s proposed rule on heat injury prevention in the workplace recently included participation in informal public hearings and the submission of formal comments.
NAHB Safety, Health, and Labor Committee Chair Tim Williams provided public hearing testimony on June 18, urging OSHA to omit from any final rule the impracticable requirements the proposed rule would impose on residential construction employers. NAHB’s post-hearing comments, submitted on Oct. 30, addressed questions from OSHA arising from the hearing.
The proposed rule, first published in full in Aug. 2024, would require nearly all employers regulated by OSHA to develop written protocols for the management of workplace heat exposure and implement complex controls specific to nationally uniform temperature thresholds, regardless of local climate.
While NAHB strongly supports regulations that reduce workplace injuries and illnesses throughout the residential construction industry, the proposed rule imposes impractical requirements that are not sufficiently tailored to heat hazard mitigation and prevention outcomes.
Compliance with the proposed rule would require a degree of operational regularity not present on dynamic construction jobsites, and a uniformity of management control not compatible with the construction subcontracting model.
NAHB has participated extensively in the rulemaking process and previously urged OSHA to ensure that any heat stress standard allows NAHB members the flexibility to continue implementing successful heat hazard awareness and training programs that are consistent with the operational realities of residential construction work.
NAHB believes OSHA must propose a separate heat injury prevention standard specific to the construction industry.
The timeframe for future action on the proposed standard is unclear. To provide adequate public notice and opportunity for comment on regulatory actions, the Administrative Procedure Act limits how significantly a final regulation can differ from an agency’s initial proposal. Should OSHA proceed with a materially different proposal, OSHA may return to a stage of rulemaking similar to the stage initially reached in Oct. 2021. Fallout from the government shutdown will likely protract OSHA’s rulemaking work on heat stress and other issues for months following restoration of federal funding.
NAHB will continue to monitor the rulemaking process and provide updates. Even without a nationwide standard in place, employers still have a duty to protect their employees working in extreme temperatures. NAHB offers resources to aid safe performance in hot environments, including the video toolbox talk below, as well as a Heat Stress Safety Toolkit. (Source)