Provides for the regulation of indoor and outdoor worksites with temperature protection standards and education, training and reporting requirements to ensure that employers provide safe conditions for their employees.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8935--C
IN ASSEMBLY
January 30, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, ZINERMAN, OTIS, SHIMSKY, LUNSFORD, RAGA,
STECK, GIBBS, BURDICK, ARDILA, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, GLICK, DILAN, McDONALD,
HEVESI, REYES, KELLES, BURGOS, SEPTIMO, CLARK, GUNTHER, SHRESTHA,
COLTON, ANDERSON, L. ROSENTHAL, LUCAS, FORREST -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Labor -- recommitted to the Committee on
Labor in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes
-- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee -- reported and referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to regulating the temperature
of all indoor and outdoor worksites
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "temper-
2 ature extreme mitigation program (TEMP) act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds and
4 declares that New Yorkers, working both in outdoor and indoor sites, are
5 exposed to extreme temperatures due to climate change. This involves
6 skyrocketing heat in the summer. Every year, New York city has high
7 numbers of heat-related emergency department visits, hospital admis-
8 sions, and deaths. According to the New York City Office of the Mayor,
9 each year there are an estimated 450 heat-related ED visits, 150 heat-
10 related hospital admissions, 10 heat-stroke deaths, and 350 heat-exacer-
11 bated deaths, caused by heat worsening existing chronic conditions.
12 The legislature hereby finds and declares that the government is obli-
13 gated to ensure that employers provide safe conditions for their employ-
14 ees.
15 § 3. The labor law is amended by adding a new article 20-D to read as
16 follows:
17 ARTICLE 20-D
18 TEMPERATURE REGULATION BY EMPLOYERS
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04582-25-4
A. 8935--C 2
1 Section 742. Scope.
2 743. Definitions.
3 744. Heat protection standards.
4 745. Education and training.
5 746. Enforcement.
6 § 742. Scope. 1. The following covered industries will be held to the
7 standards in this article:
8 (a) Agriculture;
9 (b) Construction, unless the employer is party to a: (i) collective
10 bargaining agreement or (ii) project labor agreement with a bona fide
11 building and construction trades council;
12 (c) Landscaping;
13 (d) Car wash service;
14 (e) Commercial shipping;
15 (f) Food service; and
16 (g) Warehousing.
17 2. For the purposes of this article, outdoor worksites of the covered
18 industries in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) of subdivision one of
19 this section shall be subject to the provisions herein. For the purposes
20 of this article, indoor worksites of the covered industries in para-
21 graphs (e), (f), and (g) of subdivision one of this section shall be
22 subject to the provisions herein.
23 § 743. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following
24 terms shall have the following meanings:
25 1. "Employee" means any person within a covered industry providing
26 labor or services within the scope of this article for remuneration for
27 a public or private entity or business within the state, without regard
28 to an individual's immigration status, and shall include, but not be
29 limited to, part-time workers, independent contractors, day laborers,
30 farmworkers and other temporary and seasonal workers working in an
31 industry identified in this article. The term shall also include indi-
32 viduals working for staffing agencies, contractors or subcontractors on
33 behalf of the employer at any individual worksite, as well as any
34 individual delivering goods or transporting people at, to or from the
35 worksite on behalf of the employer, regardless of whether delivery or
36 transport is conducted by an individual or entity that would otherwise
37 be deemed an employer under this article, or any person holding a posi-
38 tion by appointment or employment in the service of a public employer
39 within the scope of this article.
40 2. "Employer" means any individual, partnership, association, corpo-
41 ration, limited liability company, business trust, legal representative,
42 public entity, or any organized group acting as employer within a
43 covered industry identified in this article.
44 3. "Indoor worksite" means any enclosed work vehicles and any space
45 between a floor and a ceiling bound on all sides by walls. A wall
46 includes any door, window, retractable divider, garage door, or other
47 physical barriers that is temporary or permanent, whether open or
48 closed.
49 4. "Outdoor worksite" means all employers with employees performing
50 work in an outdoor environment. The term outdoor worksite does not apply
51 to incidental exposure, which exists when an employee is required to
52 perform a work activity outdoors for not longer than fifteen minutes in
53 any sixty-minute period.
54 5. "Heat stress threshold" means a heat stress threshold of eighty or
55 more degrees Fahrenheit. For the purposes of indoor temperature regu-
A. 8935--C 3
1 lated environments, the indoor temperature shall fall between sixty-
2 eight and seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, to the extent practicable.
3 6. "Heat illness" means a serious medical condition resulting from the
4 body's inability to cope with extreme heat temperature stress thresh-
5 olds, and includes, but is not limited to, heat cramps, heat exhaustion,
6 heat syncope, and heat stroke.
7 7. "Personal protective equipment" or "PPE" means the necessary
8 protective equipment, gear, and uniforms to withstand extreme heat at or
9 exceeding the heat stress thresholds.
10 § 744. Heat protection standards. The employer shall fulfill the
11 following requirements when employees are in an outdoor or indoor work-
12 site and experiencing conditions at or exceeding a heat stress thresh-
13 old:
14 1. Access to hydration. The employer shall provide access to potable
15 drinking water at no cost to the employee. The water shall be located
16 as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working. Water
17 shall be provided at the beginning of the work shift to provide one
18 quart per employee per hour for drinking for the entire shift; provided,
19 however, that an employer may begin the shift with smaller quantities of
20 water where such employer has effective procedures for replenishment
21 during the shift as needed to allow employees to drink one quart or more
22 per hour.
23 2. Medical monitoring. Employers shall closely monitor temperatures
24 and implement their workplace heat stress plan. If an employee exhibits
25 signs or reports symptoms of heat illness while taking a preventative
26 break pursuant to subdivision four of this section, or at any other
27 time, the employer shall make a reasonable effort to provide the worker
28 with access to first aid or other treatment.
29 3. Access to shade. (a) With respect to outdoor sites, shade shall be
30 made available while employees are present when the temperature exceeds
31 eighty degrees Fahrenheit and shall be as close to the worksite as
32 reasonably possible. When the outdoor temperature in the work area
33 exceeds eighty degrees Fahrenheit, the employer shall have and maintain
34 one or more areas with shade at all times while employees are present
35 that are either open to the air or provided with ventilation or cooling.
36 The amount of shade present shall be at least enough to accommodate the
37 number of employees on preventative breaks, so that they can sit in a
38 normal posture fully in the shade with at least four square feet per
39 resting employee.
40 (b) Where the employer can demonstrate that it is infeasible or unsafe
41 to have a shade structure, or otherwise to have shade present on a
42 continuous basis, the employer may utilize alternative procedures for
43 providing access to shade if the alternative procedures provide equiv-
44 alent protection.
45 4. Preventative breaks. (a) Employees shall be allowed and encouraged
46 to take paid preventative breaks when they feel the onset of heat
47 illness. Employees shall notify their employer as soon as possible about
48 such onset and a preventative break shall be offered to such employees.
49 Such preventative break may include access to shade. An individual
50 employee who takes a preventative break:
51 (i) Shall be monitored and asked if they are experiencing symptoms of
52 heat illness;
53 (ii) Shall be encouraged to remain in the shade, where applicable
54 under subdivision three of this section; and
A. 8935--C 4
1 (iii) Shall not be ordered back to work until any signs or symptoms of
2 heat illness have abated, but in no event, less than five minutes in
3 addition to the time needed to access shade where applicable.
4 (b) With respect to outdoor sites, where the temperature reaches or
5 exceeds ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit, the employer shall allow and
6 encourage employees to take a minimum ten minute preventative cool-down
7 rest period every two hours.
8 5. Personal protective equipment. Employers shall provide the neces-
9 sary protective equipment, gear, and uniforms to withstand temperatures
10 at or exceeding the heat stress thresholds to the extent practicable.
11 This may include, but is not limited to:
12 (a) Fans, if possible;
13 (b) Air-conditioning, which shall be mandated in all delivery vehicles
14 and warehouses in an industry identified in this article; and
15 (c) Anything additional deemed necessary by the department to combat
16 extreme heat.
17 6. Vehicle standards. Employees who spend more than sixty minutes in
18 workplace or employer provided vehicles each day or whose worksite is
19 considered an employer provided vehicle shall have adequate air-condi-
20 tioning available inside such vehicle, provided however that agricul-
21 tural machinery including tractors, seeders, and harvesting equipment
22 shall be exempt from this provision unless otherwise determined by the
23 commissioner.
24 § 745. Education and training. 1. Training. The department shall
25 create a training curriculum outlining the signs of heat illness and the
26 available medical responses. Such training shall be administered by the
27 employer at time of hiring or the employee's training fund if a member
28 of organized labor.
29 2. Mandated signage and materials. The department shall promulgate
30 signage and educational materials that are required to be made available
31 to employees by their employer in the twelve most common languages
32 spoken in the state regarding the following:
33 (a) Signs of heat illness;
34 (b) Heat stress thresholds;
35 (c) Employer required protections from heat stress thresholds;
36 (d) Where employees can report an employer's lack of accommodation;
37 and
38 (e) Anything else deemed necessary by the department.
39 3. Unlawful retaliation. For the purposes of this article, there
40 shall be a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employer
41 in any manner discriminates, retaliates, or takes any adverse action
42 against any employee within ninety days of the employee initiating a
43 complaint pursuant to this article.
44 4. Outreach campaign. The department shall establish a statewide
45 outreach campaign to educate employees on the heat illness standards
46 established and ensure that employers are providing access to proper
47 signage and materials.
48 § 746. Enforcement. The department shall promulgate rules and regu-
49 lations to require the following:
50 1. Every employer in a covered industry shall establish, maintain, and
51 preserve for three years contemporaneous, true, and accurate records on
52 all heat-related illnesses and fatalities which occur at an outdoor or
53 indoor worksite to ensure compliance with commissioner requests for
54 data.
55 2. Every employer in a covered industry shall develop a written plan
56 on how heat-related stress will be mitigated. An employer shall provide
A. 8935--C 5
1 such plan to all employees and applicable labor organizations on an
2 annual basis.
3 3. Every employer in a covered industry shall be required to pay
4 penalties of no less than fifty dollars per day for failing to implement
5 heat protection standards as set forth in this article. The department
6 shall administer notice and collect all fines.
7 4. The department shall establish a worker hotline and an online form
8 where employees can file complaints with the department regarding heat
9 protection standards.
10 5. Any other reporting or enforcement protocols necessary to ensure
11 the protection of workers.
12 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
13 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
14 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
15 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
16 on or before such effective date.
