Bill Text: NY A08935 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Provides for the regulation of indoor and outdoor worksites with temperature protection standards and education, training and reporting requirements to ensure that employers provide safe conditions for their employees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 27-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-23 - print number 8935b [A08935 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A08935-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Provides for the regulation of indoor and outdoor worksites with temperature protection standards and education, training and reporting requirements to ensure that employers provide safe conditions for their employees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 27-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-23 - print number 8935b [A08935 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A08935-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8935 IN ASSEMBLY January 30, 2024 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to regulating the temperature of all indoor and outdoor worksites The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "temper- 2 ature extreme mitigation program (TEMP) act". 3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds and 4 declares that New Yorkers, working both in outdoor and indoor sites, are 5 exposed to extreme temperatures due to climate change. This involves 6 skyrocketing heat in the summer. Every year, New York city has high 7 numbers of heat-related emergency department visits, hospital admis- 8 sions, and deaths. According to the New York City Office of the Mayor, 9 each year there are an estimated 450 heat-related ED visits, 150 heat- 10 related hospital admissions, 10 heat-stroke deaths, and 350 heat-exacer- 11 bated deaths, caused by heat worsening existing chronic conditions. 12 The legislature hereby finds and declares that the government is obli- 13 gated to ensure that employers provide safe conditions for their employ- 14 ees. 15 § 3. The labor law is amended by adding a new article 20-D to read as 16 follows: 17 ARTICLE 20-D 18 TEMPERATURE REGULATION BY EMPLOYERS 19 Section 742. Scope. 20 743. Definitions. 21 744. Heat protection standards. 22 745. Education and training. 23 746. Enforcement. 24 § 742. Scope. 1. The following covered industries will be held to the 25 standards in this article: 26 (a) Agriculture; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04582-15-4A. 8935 2 1 (b) Construction, unless the employer is party to a: (i) collective 2 bargaining agreement or (ii) project labor agreement with a bona fide 3 building and construction trades council; 4 (c) Landscaping; 5 (d) Commercial shipping; 6 (e) Food service; and 7 (f) Warehousing. 8 2. For the purposes of this article, outdoor worksites of the covered 9 industries in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subdivision one of this 10 section shall be subject to the provisions herein. For the purposes of 11 this article, indoor worksites of the covered industries in paragraphs 12 (d), (e), and (f) of subdivision one of this section shall be subject to 13 the provisions herein. 14 § 743. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following 15 terms shall have the following meanings: 16 1. "Employee" means any person within a covered industry providing 17 labor or services within the scope of this article for remuneration for 18 a public or private entity or business within the state, without regard 19 to an individual's immigration status, and shall include, but not be 20 limited to, part-time workers, independent contractors, day laborers, 21 farmworkers and other temporary and seasonal workers working in an 22 industry identified in this article. The term shall also include indi- 23 viduals working for staffing agencies, contractors or subcontractors on 24 behalf of the employer at any individual worksite, as well as any 25 individual delivering goods or transporting people at, to or from the 26 worksite on behalf of the employer, regardless of whether delivery or 27 transport is conducted by an individual or entity that would otherwise 28 be deemed an employer under this article, or any person holding a posi- 29 tion by appointment or employment in the service of a public employer 30 within the scope of this article. 31 2. "Employer" means any individual, partnership, association, corpo- 32 ration, limited liability company, business trust, legal representative, 33 public entity, or any organized group acting as employer within a 34 covered industry identified in this article. 35 3. "Indoor worksite" means any enclosed work vehicles and any space 36 between a floor and a ceiling bound on all sides by walls. A wall 37 includes any door, window, retractable divider, garage door, or other 38 physical barriers that is temporary or permanent, whether open or 39 closed. 40 4. "Outdoor worksite" means all employers with employees performing 41 work in an outdoor environment. The term outdoor worksite does not apply 42 to incidental exposure, which exists when an employee is required to 43 perform a work activity outdoors for not longer than fifteen minutes in 44 any sixty-minute period. 45 5. "Heat stress threshold" means a heat stress threshold of eighty or 46 more degrees Fahrenheit. For the purposes of indoor temperature regu- 47 lated environments, the indoor temperature shall fall between sixty- 48 eight and seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, to the extent practicable. 49 6. "Heat illness" means a serious medical condition resulting from 50 the body's inability to cope with extreme temperature stress thresholds, 51 and includes, but is not limited to, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat 52 syncope, and heat stroke. 53 7. "Personal protective equipment" or "PPE" means the necessary 54 protective equipment, gear, and uniforms to withstand extreme heat at or 55 exceeding the heat stress thresholds.A. 8935 3 1 § 744. Heat protection standards. The employer shall fulfill the 2 following requirements when employees are in an outdoor or indoor work- 3 site and experiencing conditions at or exceeding a heat stress thresh- 4 old: 5 1. Access to hydration. The employer shall provide access to potable 6 drinking water at no cost to the employee. The water shall be located 7 as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working. Water 8 shall be provided at the beginning of the work shift to provide one 9 quart per employee per hour for drinking for the entire shift provided 10 however that an employer may begin the shift with smaller quantities of 11 water where such employer has effective procedures for replenishment 12 during the shift as needed to allow employees to drink one quart or more 13 per hour. 14 2. Medical monitoring. Employers shall closely monitor temperatures 15 and implement their workplace heat stress plan. If an employee exhibits 16 signs or reports symptoms of heat illness while taking a preventative 17 break pursuant to subdivision four of this section, or at any other 18 time, the employer shall make a reasonable effort to provide the worker 19 with access to first aid or other treatment. 20 3. Access to shade. (a) With respect to outdoor sites, shade shall be 21 made available while employees are present when the temperature exceeds 22 eighty degrees Fahrenheit and shall be as close to the worksite as 23 reasonably possible. When the outdoor temperature in the work area 24 exceeds eighty degrees Fahrenheit, the employer shall have and maintain 25 one or more areas with shade at all times while employees are present 26 that are either open to the air or provided with ventilation or cooling. 27 The amount of shade present shall be at least enough to accommodate the 28 number of employees on preventative breaks, so that they can sit in a 29 normal posture fully in the shade with at least four square feet per 30 resting employee. 31 (b) Where the employer can demonstrate that it is infeasible or unsafe 32 to have a shade structure, or otherwise to have shade present on a 33 continuous basis, the employer may utilize alternative procedures for 34 providing access to shade if the alternative procedures provide equiv- 35 alent protection. 36 4. Preventative breaks. (a) Employees shall be allowed and encouraged 37 to take preventative breaks when they feel the onset of heat illness. 38 Employees shall notify their employer as soon as possible about such 39 onset and a preventative break shall be offered to such employees. Such 40 preventative break may include access to shade. An individual employee 41 who takes a preventative break: 42 (i) Shall be monitored and asked if he or she is experiencing symptoms 43 of heat illness; 44 (ii) Shall be encouraged to remain in the shade, where applicable 45 under subdivision three of this section; and 46 (iii) Shall not be ordered back to work until any signs or symptoms of 47 heat illness have abated, but in no event, less than five minutes in 48 addition to the time needed to access shade where applicable. 49 (b) With respect to outdoor sites, where the temperature reaches or 50 exceeds ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit, the employer shall allow and 51 encourage employees to take a minimum ten minute preventative cool-down 52 rest period every two hours. 53 5. Personal protective equipment. Employers shall provide the neces- 54 sary protective equipment, gear, and uniforms to withstand temperatures 55 at or exceeding the heat stress thresholds to the extent practicable. 56 This may include, but is not limited to:A. 8935 4 1 (a) Fans, if possible; 2 (b) Air-conditioning, which shall be mandated in all delivery vehicles 3 and warehouses in an industry identified in this article; and 4 (c) Anything additional deemed necessary by the department to combat 5 extreme heat. 6 6. Vehicle standards. Employees who spend more than sixty minutes in 7 workplace or employer provided vehicles each day or whose worksite is 8 considered an employer provided vehicle shall have adequate air-condi- 9 tioning available inside such vehicle. 10 § 745. Education and training. 1. Training. The department shall 11 create a training curriculum outlining the signs of heat illness and the 12 available medical responses. Such training shall be administered by the 13 employer at time of hiring or the employee's training fund if a member 14 of organized labor. 15 2. Mandated signage and materials. The department shall promulgate 16 signage and educational materials that are required to be made available 17 to employees by their employer in the twelve most common languages 18 spoken in the state regarding the following: 19 (a) Signs of heat illness; 20 (b) Heat stress thresholds; 21 (c) Employer required protections from heat stress thresholds; 22 (d) Where employees can report an employer's lack of accommodation; 23 and 24 (e) Anything else deemed necessary by the department. 25 3. Unlawful retaliation. For the purposes of this article, there 26 shall be a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employer 27 in any manner discriminates, retaliates, or takes any adverse action 28 against any employee within ninety days of the employee initiating a 29 complaint pursuant to this article. 30 4. Outreach campaign. The department shall establish a statewide 31 outreach campaign to educate employees on the heat illness standards 32 established and ensure that employers are providing access to proper 33 signage and materials. 34 § 746. Enforcement. The department shall promulgate rules and regu- 35 lations to require the following: 36 1. Every employer in a covered industry shall collect and maintain 37 data and records as required by the department on all heat-related 38 illnesses and fatalities which occur at an outdoor or indoor worksite. 39 2. Every employer in a covered industry shall submit reports of the 40 data collected pursuant to subdivision one of this section annually to 41 the department and such reports shall be published by the department on 42 a searchable database. Employers shall make such reports available to 43 any employee or applicable labor organization upon request within ten 44 business days. An extreme heat-related fatality on a construction site 45 shall be deemed a work-related injury for the purposes of reporting 46 pursuant to section forty-four of this chapter. 47 3. Every employer in a covered industry shall submit for approval a 48 written plan on how heat-related stress will be mitigated to the depart- 49 ment. Once approved by the department, an employer shall provide such 50 plan to all employees and applicable labor organizations on an annual 51 basis. 52 4. Every employer in a covered industry shall be subject to fines for 53 not adhering to the mandatory reporting and enforcement protocols. 54 Employers shall be required to pay penalties of no less than fifty 55 dollars per day for failing to implement heat protection standards asA. 8935 5 1 set forth in this article. The department shall administer notice and 2 collect all fines. 3 5. The department shall establish a worker hotline and an online form 4 where employees can file complaints with the department regarding heat 5 protection standards. 6 6. Any other reporting or enforcement protocols necessary to ensure 7 the protection of workers. 8 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 9 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or 10 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of 11 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed 12 on or before such effective date.
