Legal updates

June 20, 2025

With summer here and temperatures rising, the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) kicked off virtual public hearings this week for its proposed

federal heat standard. With various judges presiding, my former colleagues from the

Solicitor’s Office and OSHA heard testimony from various stakeholders, including

business groups, industry experts, and unions. Those opposed to the rule generally

argued that it was inflexible, too prescriptive, and imposed a one-size-fits-all approach.

They argued instead for a performance-based standard and one that accounts for

differences in workplaces and geographic areas, with some pointing to Nevada OSHA’s

heat rule (which lacks temperature triggers) as a more preferable model. Conversely,

those in favor of the rule urged OSHA to pass a federal heat standard, suggested ways

to further strengthen it (such as express anti-retaliation measures, additional

record-keeping, and reconsideration of the use of fans), and highlighted real-life stories

of workers, including the tragic story of a public works employee who died on the job

while working in the heat.

The proposed standard, which OSHA has been developing for years, was first

published in the Federal Register on August 30, 2024, and a comment period was open

until January 14, 2025. The proposed standard applies to both indoor and outdoor work

in general industry, construction, maritime, and agricultural sectors subject to certain

exemptions. It requires employers to create a heat illness and injury prevention plan

(HIIPP) with site-specific information to evaluate and control heat hazards in their

workplaces. It also sets forth heat triggers of 80 and 90 degrees and requires employers

to implement various control measures depending on which trigger is implicated, among

other requirements.

The current hearings, which are available for real-time viewing on YouTube, are

scheduled to continue through July 2, 2025. Anyone can view the daily hearings.

Hearing links for each day, as well as the schedule of speakers, can be found on

OSHA’s website: Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work

Settings Rulemaking | Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA’s website

also contains a link to the proposed rule.

The ultimate fate of a federal OSHA heat standard remains to be seen. In the

meantime, federal OSHA is expected to continue using the OSH Act’s General Duty

Clause for heat cases and relying upon its heat-related emphasis programs during

inspections. Federal OSHA extended its National Emphasis Program on Outdoor and

Indoor Heat Hazards, which was set to expire this past spring, to April 2026. Its

Warehousing NEP also has a heat component and does not expire until July 2026.

Because Illinois OSHA automatically adopts any new regulations passed by federal

OSHA within six months of a rule’s promulgation, public-sector entities in Illinois covered

by this rule will be affected if the rule does go into effect (although the rule would not

apply to employees when they are undertaking emergency response activities). 

Even if the rule does not go into effect, the state of Illinois may join other states that

have their own state heat rules. Just this past year, Illinois proposed heat

legislation—the Illinois Workplace Extreme Temperature Act. The proposed legislation

directs the Director of Labor to establish a rule requiring employers to develop,

implement, and maintain a plan to prevent temperature-related illness and injury. The

rule would also include temperature hazard levels for employees that, if exceeded,

would trigger employers to implement protective actions. The rule, as currently drafted,

would not apply to firefighters, paramedics, and law enforcement personnel, among

others, however. 

In the meantime, even if neither rule passes, it appears Illinois OSHA intends to do its

own heat-related inspections of public sector employers based on guidance in its Field

Operations Manual. The Manual contains a directive with criteria for Illinois OSHA heat

inspections and a reference to a Heat Inspections Toolkit.

Stay tuned for further updates as to Week 2.