On May 8, 2024, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board received the expected notice from the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) that the previously approved indoor heat illness standard was disapproved.

Quick Hits

• On May 8, 2024, OAL issued a decision disapproving the previously submitted indoor heat illness standard citing “clarity” and “incorrect procedure,” and stating that it would send a further written decision detailing the reasons for the disapproval.
• The Standards Board immediately issued a new draft regulation that exempted correctional facilities from the regulation, clarified the use of the “heat index” chart, and removed language that allowed for the outdoor heat regulation to apply when an indoor location was not normally occupied or was only occupied for less than fifteen minutes in an hour, and was not contiguous with a normally occupied location.
• The draft regulation also clarifies acclimatization requirements when employees where closing that restricts heat removal.
• This version contains the same prior requirements for training, trigger points of 82°F and 87°F, requirements for administrative and engineering controls, procedures for the provision of water and access to cool-down areas, procedures for acclimatization, and requirements for emergency response procedures.

The Standards Board has issued a new draft regulation that is substantially similar to the previously considered regulation with a few updates. Written comments on the new regulation must be received by 5:00 p.m. on May 30, 2024, at the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. The earliest that the Standards Board could consider the regulation would be the June 20, 2024, meeting in Vacaville, however, the regulation is not on any agenda at this time.