YourVoice.Now Summary
Workers & JobsWould stop OSHA's proposed heat rule — no federal water, shade or paid-break requirements for hot jobs.
Workers & Jobs
The Labor Department could not finish or enforce OSHA's 2024 heat proposal. The ban also covers any future rule much like it, so a later administration could not simply try again.
The blocked rule would have required cool drinking water, shade or cooled break areas, and a paid 15-minute break every two hours at a 90-degree heat index. Federal law requires none of that today, and the bill would keep it that way.
More about this bill
If you work outdoors or in a hot indoor job, federal heat rules would stay exactly as they are now. The Labor Department could not finish or enforce the heat safety rule its workplace safety agency, OSHA, proposed in August 2024. That rule would have required drinking water and shade or cooled break areas. It also called for a paid 15-minute break every two hours once the heat index hit 90 degrees. The ban would reach any later rule much like it. Nothing changes today. The rule was never finished, so no employer follows it now. The bill was introduced in November 2025 and has not passed. OSHA could still cite an employer for a dangerous heat hazard under the general safety law it has always used.
Congressional Summary
Heat Workforce Standards Act of 2025 This bill prohibits the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing a safety standard requiring certain employers to create a heat injury and illness prevention plan to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplaces. Specifically, OSHA is prohibited from finalizing the proposed rule titled Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, which was published on August 30, 2024, or any substantially similar standard. The proposed standard generally applies to employers conducting outdoor and indoor work in all general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture sectors where OSHA has jurisdiction. Employers must develop plans in accordance with the specified standards to address employee exposures to heat indexes at or above 80 degrees (initial heat trigger) or 90 degrees (high heat trigger) Fahrenheit. As background, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 generally requires employers to provide their employees with a place of employment that is free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees. OSHA conducts workplace inspections and cites employers that fail to satisfy these requirements. Currently, OSHA does not have specific heat exposure standards; however, OSHA has historically used its general authority to cite employers for violations involving excessive heat, including through a National Emphasis Program that focuses on indoor and outdoor heat exposure in industries that have the highest risks.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-11-20
- Date Added
- 2026-09-10
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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