Gulf Coast Media
Tuberville, Britt join GOP senators urging Labor Department to withdraw Biden-era heat rule
GCM Staff Report
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, joined Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, and 14 other Republican senators in urging the U.S. Department of Labor to scrap a proposed federal heat safety rule they say would impose sweeping mandates on businesses across the country.
In a letter to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the senators argued the Biden administration’s proposed rule governing heat injury and illness prevention would create rigid federal requirements that ignore differences in workplace conditions, industry practices and regional climates.
The proposal, issued in 2024, would require businesses in both indoor and outdoor settings to follow detailed rules tied to temperature thresholds. The regulation includes mandatory rest breaks, new safety staffing requirements, heat monitoring standards and extensive recordkeeping obligations.
The senators wrote that many states already deal with extreme heat and have developed workplace strategies that protect employees without imposing what they described as a broad federal mandate.
“We represent the states of Louisiana, Idaho, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Texas, and Montana which have experience with high temperatures and whose workplaces have already developed strategies for protecting workers,” the senators wrote. “Protecting workers from a common and easily understandable workplace hazard does not require a prescriptive rule that will cause confusion and, in several circumstances, may even undermine worker safety. Workers and businesses thrive when there are clear standards that are flexible, understandable, and pragmatic.”
The letter argues the proposed rule could disrupt industries ranging from construction and energy to manufacturing and delivery services. Under the proposal, additional safety requirements would take effect at 80 degrees and intensify at 90 degrees, including a mandatory 15-minute rest break every two hours once temperatures reach the higher threshold.
Lawmakers said those requirements could unintentionally create new hazards. For example, they warned roofers could face greater fall risks if required to repeatedly climb down from elevated worksites during mandatory breaks.
Businesses working outdoors may also face conflicts with local noise ordinances that prohibit early morning work, limiting their ability to adjust schedules to avoid peak heat. The senators said mobile workers, including delivery drivers, could struggle to find safe locations for breaks or access cooling areas and water supplies during routes.
The letter also raises concerns about work that cannot easily pause, such as pouring concrete or repairing infrastructure after storms. Interruptions caused by temperature triggers could force workers to extend shifts in the heat or affect the quality of time-sensitive projects.
Under the proposed rule, companies would also be required to appoint heat safety coordinators responsible for overseeing compliance. The senators said the regulation’s requirement that each coordinator supervise no more than 20 workers could force businesses to create new positions solely to meet the mandate, increasing costs particularly for small companies.
Additional concerns focus on the rule’s acclimatization requirements. New employees or workers returning after more than 14 days away would be required to gradually increase heat exposure over three to four days. Lawmakers argued that could discourage hiring workers already accustomed to heat-intensive jobs or disrupt common work schedules in industries such as energy, where employees often follow “14 on, 14 off” rotations.
The proposal would also require businesses with more than 10 employees to develop a detailed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Plan for each worksite. The senators said the site-specific documentation requirements could create compliance challenges for industries with constantly changing job locations such as construction.
They also criticized the rule’s training, hazard alert and water supply mandates, saying the requirements could increase monitoring costs and paperwork while providing little additional safety benefit.
The letter notes that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration already has authority to address heat hazards through its National Emphasis Program and the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Federal inspectors have conducted more than 7,000 heat-related inspections under the program, issuing more than 1,300 hazard alert letters and 60 citations.
The senators said those existing tools allow OSHA to evaluate each workplace individually rather than enforcing a universal rule.
Along with Tuberville and Britt, the letter was signed by Sens. Jim Banks of Indiana, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Steve Daines of Montana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Jim Risch of Idaho, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Tim Sheehy of Montana and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
The group urged the Labor Department to reconsider the proposed regulation as the rulemaking process continues and focus instead on what they described as practical approaches that prioritize worker safety without imposing what they called burdensome federal mandates.
The full text of the letter is available at www.tuberville.senate.gov.