HR4443-119

What This Bill Does

The Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act creates a federal heat-safety mandate. Employers must provide workplaces free from conditions reasonably anticipated to cause death or serious physical harm from heat stress and must comply with rules under the Act. The Labor Secretary must issue a worker heat protection standard using best available evidence and giving preeminent value to safe and healthful working conditions. The standard may include engineering controls, administrative controls, rest breaks, acclimatization, emergency response, medical services, training, exposure monitoring, and personal protective equipment. The standards have the same legal effect as OSHA standards, with citations available for four years after a violation, substantial deference for reasonable Labor Department interpretations, recordkeeping and reporting authority shared with HHS as under OSHA section 8, and a 180-day complaint window for workers alleging retaliation. The Labor Secretary must update the National Agricultural Workers Survey to identify heat-related illness and injury and submit an implementation report to congressional labor committees within one year.

Who Benefits and How

Outdoor workers benefit from enforceable federal heat protections aimed at reducing illness, injury, and death. Agricultural workers benefit because the National Agricultural Workers Survey must collect information on heat-related illness and injury. Workers in hot indoor facilities benefit if OSHA standards require controls, rest, monitoring, emergency response, or training. Whistleblowers benefit from a 180-day window to file retaliation complaints related to heat-safety rights.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Employers must assess heat stress, implement protective measures, comply with standards, and maintain required records. The Department of Labor must promulgate heat standards, enforce citations, interpret the statute, and report to Congress. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission must review heat-standard citations while giving deference to reasonable Labor Department interpretations. The Department of Health and Human Services may share recordkeeping and reporting authority related to heat illness and injury.

Key Provisions

• Requires every employer to provide workplaces free from heat-stress conditions reasonably anticipated to cause death or serious physical harm.
• Directs the Labor Secretary to promulgate a worker heat protection standard using best available evidence and prioritizing safe and healthful conditions.
• Provides OSHA-equivalent legal effect, a four-year citation period, recordkeeping authority, and substantial deference to reasonable Labor Department interpretations.
• Allows heat-safety retaliation complaints to be filed within 180 days.
• Requires National Agricultural Workers Survey updates and a one-year report to congressional labor committees.