NAPA, industry preparing for proposed heat illness standard
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is proposing a rule to protect workers that, if finalized, would establish the nation’s first-ever federal safety standard addressing excessive heat in the workplace.
Over the past two years, NAPA has developed and distributed heat illness prevention industry guidance, including a template for companies to develop their Heat Illness Prevention Program.
Incoming NAPA Health & Safety Committee Vice Chair Coral Todd with Duval Asphalt said the NAPA resource meets many of the requirements of the proposed rule from OSHA.
NAPA 2023 Midyear Meeting.
“While we had hoped OSHA would consider a more tailored approach to account for the unique needs of our industry, we are confident that our current guidance will continue to meet most compliance requirements in the proposed rule, ” Todd said. “We see this as an opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of our program and highlight what we’ve implemented as an effective alternative to the specific shade requirements in the proposed rule.”
OSHA is requesting comments on the July 2 proposed rule within 120 days.
“We will discuss industry’s path-forward during the NAPA 2024 Midyear Meeting and will engage our membership accordingly,” said Vice President for Environment, Health, and Safety Howard Marks.
Read more about how NAPA members are beating the heat through heat illness prevention measures in the Summer issue of NAPA Quarterly.
