Requires employers to keep their employees safe from exposure to extreme heat by implementing heat-related illness prevention plans.
Summary
This bill would add a new section to the New York Labor Law requiring covered employers to protect employees from occupational exposure to excessive heat. It directs the Commissioner of Labor, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, to adopt regulations setting maximum heat exposure levels and compliance requirements for covered workplaces, which are defined broadly to include workplaces primarily involved in delivering goods and services to consumers or businesses.
Covered employers would have to develop and maintain a written heat-related illness prevention plan with employee participation. The plan must address monitoring heat exposure, providing cool potable water, paid rest breaks, shade or climate-controlled recovery areas, acclimatization, time limits on heat exposure, heat alerts, engineering and administrative controls, personal protective equipment, coordination among multiple employers at the same workplace, and direct employee reporting of heat illness symptoms. The bill also requires annual training for employees and supervisors, recordkeeping on heat illnesses and environmental conditions, and anti-retaliation protections for workers who report heat-related concerns or exercise rights under the law.
Impact
The bill would create a new occupational heat-safety mandate in the Labor Law, adding section 218-c and authorizing the Department of Labor to issue implementing regulations. It would affect employers in covered workplaces, including contractors, subcontractors, temporary service firms, and employee leasing entities, by imposing planning, training, monitoring, recordkeeping, and response obligations related to heat exposure. It also preserves collective bargaining rights and allows more or less generous provisions where agreed in a collective bargaining agreement.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears strongly worker-protective and focused on preventing heat-related illness and deaths in the workplace. There are no recorded votes or committee transcripts provided, so no formal legislative debate or recorded sentiment is available in the supplied materials. The structure of the bill suggests an intent to align state workplace protections with recognized heat-safety practices and OSHA-style model planning.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided context. Potential areas of debate inherent in the bill include the breadth of the covered workplace definition, the compliance burden on employers, the requirement for paid rest breaks and other operational changes, and the interaction with collective bargaining agreements. The bill also leaves key exposure thresholds to regulation, which could become a point of dispute during rulemaking.
Requires employers to protect workers from extreme heat and cold by implementing safety plans, providing paid rest breaks, shade or warmth, drinking water, and protective equipment, ensuring training, and recordkeeping.
Requires employers to protect employees from extreme temperatures through rest breaks, PPE, training, and equipment, and mandates quarterly supervisor training, to recognize and mitigate heat- and cold-related risks.