New AZ guidelines aim to protect workers from heat, but fall short of enforceable standards

PHOENIX – Arizona is implementing new workplace heat safety guidelines as summer approaches. They address shade, breaks and water access, but advocates say without enforceable standards, they fall short of protecting workers.

The state has experienced longer periods of extreme heat, putting Arizonans at greater risk for heat-related illness, emergency room visits and death, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Last May, Gov. Katie Hobbs directed the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or ADOSH, to establish a Workplace Heat Safety Task Force made up of medical experts and workers’ rights advocates and representatives across Arizona.

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The task force submitted final recommendations on Dec. 31, 2025, and the Industrial Commission of Arizona, the state agency that oversees ADOSH, voted to approve and roll out those guidelines on April 9.

The new recommendations call on employers to establish a heat illness prevention plan, which includes access to cool water and shade, rest, training and gradual exposure to intense heat.

Members of the governor’s task force represented industries impacted by the heat, including construction, agriculture, first responders and hospitality.

Trina David, a crew chief for an airline at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport who spoke during public comment before ADOSH and the Industrial Commission, said during her 18 years at the airport, she has seen workers collapse from heat-related illness.

“These are lifelong illnesses for us,” she said.

According to Banner Health, pavement temperatures can be 40 to 60 degrees hotter than the air temperature, and the tarmac is no exception.

The physical demands compound the risk, David said: “You are talking about exertion levels because each back is 50 pounds or more.”

If breaks are not required, she said, many workers feel they can’t take them.

“If you leave it ‘as needed’ people won’t take the breaks because they feel retaliation is real,” David said.

The new guidelines build on existing workplace safety measures; they do not create protections from scratch.

ADOSH operates its own workplace safety program under a state plan approved by the federal agency OSHA, which sets baseline standards for workers protections, said Amber Pappas, an occupational safety and health consultant and facilitator on the task force.

OSHA launched a National Emphasis Program specific to heat hazards in 2022, directing enforcement agencies to focus inspections on heat-related risks.

Arizona followed in 2023 by adopting a State Emphasis Program through ADOSH. However, that program includes general guidance, rather than enforceable, heat-focused rules. Pappas described the requirements as “catch all standards,” adding that the state relies on an overarching standard, often referred to as the general duty clause, for enforcement.

“All employers are legally required to provide a place of employment free from potential or recognized hazards that could cause serious injury, illness or fatality,” she said. “Currently under state emphasis, all we have is that general duty clause.”

The task force’s new recommendations will be added to the 2023 emphasis program, offering detailed guidance for employers, and are expected to be revisited regularly, Pappas said.

The guidelines have a broad reach for industries across the state, including agriculture. Heat-related mortality rates for U.S. crop workers are 20 times higher than other industries, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

Jazmin Moreno-Dominguez, an organizer and co-founder of Agave Community Threads, surveyed agricultural workers in southern Arizona. She said she’s heard stories of workers who have to walk long distances to get to water stations and seek shade in hazardous places like behind tractor tires.

Moreno-Dominguez is part of the Arizona Heat Standards Coalition, a group of community members who called on the state to implement enforceable heat safety rules as quickly as possible.

“The task force, while it is a great start, in our opinion, is just continuing to delay actual policy on paper and put protections on the ground,” Moreno-Dominguez said.

Fifteen of the 24 task force members called on ADOSH to support binding and enforceable heat safety rules including defining hazardous temperatures and minimum rest periods. Ultimately, the final recommendation approved by the entire task force did not include enforcement provisions and the commission moved forward with the guidelines without launching a rulemaking process.

According to Maxwell Ulin, staff attorney for the UNITE HERE Local 11 union, the Arizona guidelines give employers best practices for heat safety. This also aids state enforcement to “a limited degree” by helping investigators assess whether a business is doing enough to keep workers safe.

Still, Ulin believes this is not enough protection.

“We will continue to be struggling to enforce what is an otherwise very broad, nonspecific standard for safety and health until workers get hurt or until there is substantial risk of injury to workers,” Ulin said.

Five states currently have varying forms of heat standards, according to OSHA. Colorado’s heat standard only applies to agricultural workers, while Minnesota’s only applies to indoor places of employment. California has a Heat Illness Prevention Standard that applies across industries and is triggered when temperatures reach 80 degrees.

A Health Affairs study found that California saw an estimated 33% decrease in heat-related deaths among outdoor workers after it intensified enforcement of its heat standard in 2010, and a 51% reduction after revisions were made to the standard in 2015.

Industrial Commission Chair Dennis Kavanaugh said Arizona should study how heat standards worked elsewhere, considering more evidence and budget impacts before initiating rulemaking.

“Today’s not a once and done. This is the beginning of our process as commissioners to deal with this issue,” Kavanaugh said during an industrial commission meeting.

The commission ordered a report on the effectiveness of the new guidelines by the end of the year.

This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.