Article Summary –
Arizona’s new workplace heat safety guidelines focus on shade, breaks, and water but lack enforceable standards. Experts say this does not fully protect workers. The Industrial Commission plans to study and report on effectiveness. Advocates call for binding rules to better safeguard against heat risks.
PHOENIX – Arizona introduces workplace heat safety guidelines as summer nears, focusing on shade, breaks, and water access. However, without enforceable standards, some believe these measures won’t fully protect workers.
With extreme heat increasing, Arizonans face higher risks for heat-related illnesses, ER visits, and fatalities, as reported by the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Gov. Katie Hobbs last May mandated the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) to form a Workplace Heat Safety Task Force with experts and worker advocates statewide.
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On Dec. 31, 2025, the task force presented their final recommendations, which were approved by the Industrial Commission of Arizona on April 9.
The recommendations urge employers to create a heat illness prevention plan, covering water, shade, rest, training, and acclimatization to heat.
Industries affected by the heat, like construction and agriculture, were represented in the task force.
Trina David, an airline crew chief at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, noted her experience with colleagues collapsing from heat-related illnesses in her 18-year tenure.
“These are lifelong illnesses for us,” she stated.
Banner Health highlights that pavement temperatures can exceed air temperatures by 40 to 60 degrees, a significant concern at places like airport tarmacs.
If mandatory breaks are absent, workers often hesitate to take them due to fear of retaliation, David explained.
These guidelines enhance existing safety measures but don’t create entirely new protections.
ADOSH, under a state plan endorsed by OSHA, sets the baseline for workers protections, according to Amber Pappas, an occupational safety consultant.
OSHA’s 2022 National Emphasis Program on heat hazards sharpened focus on heat-related inspections.
In 2023, Arizona followed with a State Emphasis Program via ADOSH, offering guidance but no enforceable rules.
Employers must provide safe workplaces, free from recognized hazards. The state’s emphasis relies on a broad standard known as the general duty clause.
These recommendations are part of the 2023 emphasis program and will be regularly reviewed, Pappas stated.
The new guidelines impact industries statewide. Notably, U.S. crop workers face heat-related mortality rates 20 times higher than other sectors, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
Jazmin Moreno-Dominguez, of Agave Community Threads, reported agricultural workers in southern Arizona face challenges accessing water and shade.
Moreno-Dominguez is part of a coalition advocating for enforceable heat safety rules.
“These guidelines delay actual policy implementation,” Moreno-Dominguez claimed.
Fifteen task force members urged ADOSH for binding safety rules like specifying hazardous temperatures and break periods, but the final recommendations lacked enforcement provisions.
Maxwell Ulin, a UNITE HERE Local 11 attorney, said the guidelines help state enforcement but are insufficient.
“We need more specific safety standards to prevent worker injuries,” Ulin emphasized.
OSHA reports five states have heat standards; California’s applies at 80 degrees, while others vary.
A Health Affairs study found California reduced outdoor worker heat-related deaths by 33% post-enforcement of its heat standard in 2010 and 51% after 2015 revisions.
Industrial Commission Chair Dennis Kavanaugh stressed examining other states’ heat standards before initiating rulemaking.
“This is the start of our process to address this issue,” Kavanaugh remarked at a commission meeting.
The commission expects a report on the new guidelines’ effectiveness by year’s end.
This article appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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