Congressional Democrats call on Biden for workplace heat safety steps

By Josephine Walker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 112 Democratic members of Congress on Monday called on U.S. President Joe Biden's administration to establish heat safety regulations for indoor and outdoor workplaces as a persistent and deadly heatwave spreads across the country.

The group asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue new standards on adequate water and sheltered rest breaks, medical training to identify heat-related illness and a plan for workplaces to adjust their operations during times of dangerously high heat.

The move comes as the U.S. experiences a summer of record-breaking heat in some cities. Lawmakers cited the recent heat-related deaths of two Texans, a U.S. Postal Service employee who died on his route in 115 degree Fahrenheit (46°C) heat and a 35-year-old electrical lineman restoring power who likely died from heat exhaustion.

"These heat waves are dangerous, they are life-threatening, and – with the devastating effects of climate change – they are only getting worse," Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the lawmakers who signed the letter, said in a statement. "I urge the administration to move quickly to create this national heat standard to protect workers on the job.

The lawmaker asked OSHA to model the new standards after a 2022 bill that Congress never took up, the Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatalities Prevention Act, named after the death of a California farm worker who died after picking grapes for ten hours in 105 F (41°C) temperatures in 2004.

(Reporting by Josephine Walker; Editing by Scott Malone and Marguerita Choy)