President Biden proposed a new rule Tuesday, July 3rd, to address excessive heat in the workplace. The first-of-its-kind measure would protect an estimated 36 million U.S. workers from heat-related injuries. These include farm laborers, employees in delivery and construction, landscapers and indoor workers in warehouses, factories and kitchens.
Speaking at the Washington D.C. Emergency Operations Center, the President said that “extreme heat is the number one weather-related killer in the United States—more people die from extreme heat than floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes combined.”
Last year, a record-setting 2,300 people in the U.S. died from heat-related illnesses, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Though a small number of states have workplace standards in place for heat exposure—California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington—there are no federal protections in the U.S. The business community has consistently opposed such regulations, the New York Times reports.
Under the proposed rule, employers would be required to identify “heat hazards,” develop emergency response plans and provide training to employees and supervisors on the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses. Employers would also have to institute rest breaks, provide shade and water and “heat acclimatization for new workers.”
Heat Crises On The Rise Worldwide
Late last month, 100 million Americans were under a “heat dome” across 27 states, with temperatures soaring well into the 90s and even 100s Fahrenheit. Prior to this, a period of extreme and persistent heat affected Mexico and parts of Central America from the end of May through early June, killing at least 125 people.
Excessive heat didn’t just impact the North American continent. At least 1,301 people died during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia as a blistering heatwave gripped the area. Temperatures at times exceeded 122 Fahrenheit.
The World Health Organization says that humanitarian emergencies from heatwaves, wildfires, floods, tropical storms and hurricanes are increasing in scale, frequency and intensity.
In and of themselves, one-off instances of record-setting heat are not remarkable. It’s the trend of global warming that’s concerning. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the earth’s average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest registered since record-keeping began in 1880. Overall, the planet was approximately 2.45 degrees Fahrenheit (1.36 degrees Celsius) warmer in 2023 than the average recorded between 1850 and 1900. Remarkably, the ten warmest years in the 174- years of record-keeping in the U.S. have all occurred between 2014 and 2023, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such permutations can be natural, owing to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. But human activities have left a large carbon footprint which has been a key driver of climate change, according to the majority of climate scientists. This is primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas as this generates greenhouse gas emissions that envelop the earth, which can trap the sun’s heat and in turn raise temperatures.
Beyond its effects on ecosystems and weather patterns, climate change can profoundly impact human health. As heat waves become more frequent and increasingly intense, so do a multitude of health risks, as STAT News outlines.
Some of the more visible risks include heat exhaustion, which is exhibited by an acute loss of water and salt through profuse sweating; heatstroke, which occurs when the body’s temperature rises so rapidly and by so much that the cooling system stops working altogether, resulting in decreased sweating.
But to most vulnerable populations, the effects of heat aren’t as obvious. In this context, excessive heat can be a silent killer. It’s only weeks or months later when researchers examine mortality data that they observe steep rises in excess deaths following prolonged heatwaves. More than 70,000 such deaths occurred in Europe last summer.
And there’s a rising prevalence of food-, water-and insect-borne illnesses. Ticks and other insects, for example, are increasing their range. The diseases posing a threat are encroaching upon previously unaffected regions as warming continues. These include West Nile virus, Dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika, malaria and leishmaniasis.
WHO data indicates that two billion people still lack safe drinking water. The United Nations Children’s Fund describes the problems of water scarcity and contamination that can be caused by severe droughts and flooding, respectively. Flooding, in particular, can introduce toxins and pathogens to crops, causing foodborne illnesses. Approximately 600 million people globally suffer annually. Children under five account for 30% of foodborne fatalities.
Breathing in hot, humid air can worsen respiratory conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the American Lung Association explains. And people with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions or risk factors are at a higher risk for effects linked to extreme heat exposure, a recent study released by the University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute shows. These adverse health effects may include rapid heart rate, dehydration, myocardial infarction and stroke.
Further, a U.S.-based study suggests the increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves are associated with preterm deliveries. Also, excessive heat can pose an especially high risk of death among those with a mental illness.
All told, extreme temperatures—cold and heat—kill five million people a year, a peer-reviewed study in Lancet Planetary Health details.
As I reported last year, presently around the globe more people die from cold than heat. But climate change is causing the proportion to shift steadily, as deaths from heat increase while cold-related fatalities shrink.
Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause roughly 250,000 additional deaths per year, mostly as a result of undernutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress. As is invariably the case, developing nations will be least able to cope.
And as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reiterates, the impact of climate change on human health in the U.S. won’t be felt the same way by everyone. Depending on age, economic resources and location, people will be affected by different levels of risk.
Against this backdrop of rising heat-related health risks, the Biden Administration is proposing new federal regulations to protect 36 million workers.