Protecting Workers From Heat Illness: Nevada’s New Regulation

Quick Hits

• On November 15, 2024, the State of Nevada adopted a regulation to protect workers from heat-related illnesses, requiring covered employers to conduct job hazard analyses, designate employees for emergency response, and implement comprehensive safety programs.
• The regulation requires employers to implement measures that will “reasonably mitigate the risk of occupational exposure to heat illness for affected employees.” These include the provision of water, rest breaks, cooling methods, and training for employees exposed to hazardous working conditions that may cause occupational exposure to heat illness.
• The regulation is intended to reduce the risk of heat illness, ensure safer working conditions, and protect employees’ health in the face of rising temperatures.

Key Provisions of the Regulation

Job Hazard Analysis

Employers with more than ten employees are required to perform a one-time, written job hazard analysis to assess working conditions that may cause occupational exposure to heat illness. This analysis must be conducted before a task is undertaken for the first time or whenever a task materially changes. Employers are required to assess the working conditions of a job without consideration of whether employees would have access to water, rest, or shade. The analysis must include a list of all job classifications “in which the majority of employees in those classifications have occupational exposure to heat illness for more than 30 minutes of any 60-minute period, not including breaks” and “[a] list of all tasks and procedures, or groups of closely related tasks and procedures, performed by employees … (1) [i]n which occupational exposure to heat illness may occur; and (2) [w]hich are performed by employees in [the] job classifications [listed].”

Designation of an Employee

If, based on the job hazard analysis, the employer determines that an employee is exposed to hazardous working conditions that may cause occupational exposure to heat illness, the employer must designate an employee to perform the following tasks if an employee is experiencing signs or symptoms of heat illness that require an emergency response, or ensure that the tasks are being carried out: (1) contact emergency medical services; (2) promptly provide all information necessary to enable an emergency medical services provider to reach the employee, including contact information and directions; and (3) transport the employee to a location where an emergency medical services provider is able to reach the employee. The designated employee must also monitor the working conditions that could create heat illness and carry out the provisions of the written safety program that address occupational exposure to heat illness.

Written Safety Programs

Under the new regulation, employers must incorporate provisions into their written safety programs to address potentially hazardous working conditions that may cause heat illness for employees. This includes providing potable water, rest breaks, and means of cooling for employees; monitoring working conditions; identifying and mitigating work processes that may generate additional heat or humidity; and providing training and procedures for responding to emergencies. The regulation requires that the measures implemented “reasonably mitigate the risk of occupational exposure to heat illness for the affected employees.”

Training Programs

A crucial aspect of the regulation is the requirement for employers to provide training programs for employees in job classifications with occupational exposure to heat illness. A training program should enable employees to “recognize the hazards of heat illness” and understand “the procedures to be followed to minimize the hazards of heat illness.”

Exemptions and Additional Protections

The regulation does not apply to employees working indoors in climate-controlled environments, including in motor vehicles with properly functioning climate-control systems, unless the climate-control systems fail. Collective bargaining agreements cannot waive or reduce these requirements.

Understanding Heat Illness

Heat illness encompasses a range of medical conditions resulting from the body’s inability to cope with excessive heat. These conditions include heat cramps, heat rash, heat exhaustion, fainting, and heat stroke. Occupational exposure to heat illness can be affected by factors such as air temperature, humidity, radiant heat, conductive heat, air movement, workload severity and duration, protective clothing, and personal protective equipment.

Conclusion

In the face of rising temperatures, employers and employees alike will be challenged to prioritize workplace safety, take steps to mitigate the risks associated with heat illness, and remain healthy, productive, and protected from the potentially severe consequences of heat exposure.

Nevada’s new regulation represents a significant step forward in protecting workers from the dangers of heat illness. By requiring job hazard analyses, comprehensive safety programs, employee training, and emergency response procedures, the regulation aims to create safer working environments and reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses.

The Division of Industrial Relations is expected to publish regulatory guidance for employers on its website in the next thirty days.

Ogletree Deakins’ Las Vegas office and Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the firm’s Nevada and Workplace Safety and Health blogs as additional information becomes available.

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