Bill Text: NY A08935 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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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 26-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-31 - print number 8935c [A08935 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A08935-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         8935--B

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 30, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, ZINERMAN, OTIS, SHIMSKY, LUNSFORD, RAGA,
          STECK, GIBBS, BURDICK, ARDILA, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, GLICK, DILAN, McDONALD,
          HEVESI,  REYES,  KELLES,  BURGOS,  SEPTIMO,  CLARK, GUNTHER, SHRESTHA,
          COLTON, ANDERSON,  L. ROSENTHAL,  LUCAS,  FORREST  --  read  once  and
          referred  to the Committee on Labor -- recommitted to the Committee on
          Labor in  accordance  with  Assembly  Rule  3,  sec.  2  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to  said  committee -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes
          -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered  reprinted  as  amended
          and recommitted to said committee

        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.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04582-22-4
        A. 8935--B                          2

     1          744. Heat protection standards.
     2          745. Education and training.
     3          746. Enforcement.
     4    §  742. Scope. 1. The following covered industries will be held to the
     5  standards in this article:
     6    (a) Agriculture;
     7    (b) Construction, unless the employer is party to  a:  (i)  collective
     8  bargaining  agreement  or  (ii) project labor agreement with a bona fide
     9  building and construction trades council;
    10    (c) Landscaping;
    11    (d) Car wash service;
    12    (e) Commercial shipping;
    13    (f) Food service; and
    14    (g) Warehousing.
    15    2. For the purposes of this article, outdoor worksites of the  covered
    16  industries  in  paragraphs  (a), (b), (c), and (d) of subdivision one of
    17  this section shall be subject to the provisions herein. For the purposes
    18  of this article, indoor worksites of the  covered  industries  in  para-
    19  graphs  (e),  (f),  and  (g) of subdivision one of this section shall be
    20  subject to the provisions herein.
    21    § 743. Definitions. For the purposes of this  article,  the  following
    22  terms shall have the following meanings:
    23    1.  "Employee"  means  any  person within a covered industry providing
    24  labor or services within the scope of this article for remuneration  for
    25  a public or private entity or business within the state,  without regard
    26  to  an  individual's  immigration  status, and shall include, but not be
    27  limited to,  part-time  workers,  independent contractors, day laborers,
    28  farmworkers and  other temporary   and seasonal workers  working  in  an
    29  industry  identified  in this article. The term shall also include indi-
    30  viduals working for staffing agencies, contractors or subcontractors  on
    31  behalf  of  the  employer  at any individual worksite, as  well  as  any
    32  individual delivering  goods  or transporting people at, to or from  the
    33  worksite  on behalf of the employer, regardless of whether  delivery  or
    34  transport  is conducted by an individual or entity that would  otherwise
    35  be  deemed an employer under this article, or any person holding a posi-
    36  tion by appointment or employment in the service of  a  public  employer
    37  within the scope of this article.
    38    2.  "Employer"  means any individual, partnership, association, corpo-
    39  ration, limited liability company, business trust, legal representative,
    40  public entity, or any  organized  group  acting  as  employer  within  a
    41  covered industry identified in this article.
    42    3.  "Indoor  worksite"  means any enclosed work vehicles and any space
    43  between a floor and a ceiling bound  on  all  sides  by  walls.  A  wall
    44  includes  any  door,  window, retractable divider, garage door, or other
    45  physical barriers that  is  temporary  or  permanent,  whether  open  or
    46  closed.
    47    4.  "Outdoor  worksite"  means all employers with employees performing
    48  work in an outdoor environment. The term outdoor worksite does not apply
    49  to incidental exposure, which exists when an  employee  is  required  to
    50  perform  a work activity outdoors for not longer than fifteen minutes in
    51  any sixty-minute period.
    52    5. "Heat stress threshold" means a heat stress threshold of eighty  or
    53  more  degrees Fahrenheit.   For the purposes of indoor temperature regu-
    54  lated environments, the indoor temperature  shall  fall  between  sixty-
    55  eight and seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, to the extent practicable.
        A. 8935--B                          3

     1    6. "Heat illness" means a serious medical condition resulting from the
     2  body's  inability  to  cope with extreme heat temperature stress thresh-
     3  olds, and includes, but is not limited to, heat cramps, heat exhaustion,
     4  heat syncope, and heat stroke.
     5    7.  "Personal  protective  equipment"  or  "PPE"  means  the necessary
     6  protective equipment, gear, and uniforms to withstand extreme heat at or
     7  exceeding the heat stress thresholds.
     8    § 744. Heat protection standards.   The  employer  shall  fulfill  the
     9  following  requirements when employees are in an outdoor or indoor work-
    10  site and experiencing conditions at or exceeding a heat  stress  thresh-
    11  old:
    12    1.  Access  to hydration. The employer shall provide access to potable
    13  drinking water at no cost to the employee.  The water shall  be  located
    14  as  close as practicable to the areas where employees are working. Water
    15  shall be provided at the beginning of the  work  shift  to  provide  one
    16  quart per employee per hour for drinking for the entire shift; provided,
    17  however, that an employer may begin the shift with smaller quantities of
    18  water  where  such  employer  has effective procedures for replenishment
    19  during the shift as needed to allow employees to drink one quart or more
    20  per hour.
    21    2. Medical monitoring.  Employers shall closely  monitor  temperatures
    22  and  implement their workplace heat stress plan. If an employee exhibits
    23  signs or reports symptoms of heat illness while  taking  a  preventative
    24  break  pursuant  to  subdivision  four  of this section, or at any other
    25  time, the employer shall make a reasonable effort to provide the  worker
    26  with access to first aid or other treatment.
    27    3. Access to shade.  (a) With respect to outdoor sites, shade shall be
    28  made  available while employees are present when the temperature exceeds
    29  eighty degrees Fahrenheit and shall be  as  close  to  the  worksite  as
    30  reasonably  possible.  When  the  outdoor  temperature  in the work area
    31  exceeds eighty degrees Fahrenheit, the employer shall have and  maintain
    32  one  or  more  areas with shade at all times while employees are present
    33  that are either open to the air or provided with ventilation or cooling.
    34  The amount of shade present shall be at least enough to accommodate  the
    35  number  of  employees  on preventative breaks, so that they can sit in a
    36  normal posture fully in the shade with at least  four  square  feet  per
    37  resting employee.
    38    (b) Where the employer can demonstrate that it is infeasible or unsafe
    39  to  have  a  shade  structure,  or  otherwise to have shade present on a
    40  continuous basis, the employer may utilize  alternative  procedures  for
    41  providing  access  to shade if the alternative procedures provide equiv-
    42  alent protection.
    43    4. Preventative breaks. (a) Employees shall be allowed and  encouraged
    44  to  take  paid  preventative  breaks  when  they  feel the onset of heat
    45  illness. Employees shall notify their employer as soon as possible about
    46  such onset and a preventative break shall be offered to such  employees.
    47  Such  preventative  break  may  include access to shade.   An individual
    48  employee who takes a preventative break:
    49    (i) Shall be monitored and asked if they are experiencing symptoms  of
    50  heat illness;
    51    (ii)  Shall  be  encouraged  to  remain in the shade, where applicable
    52  under subdivision three of this section; and
    53    (iii) Shall not be ordered back to work until any signs or symptoms of
    54  heat illness have abated, but in no event, less  than  five  minutes  in
    55  addition to the time needed to access shade where applicable.
        A. 8935--B                          4

     1    (b)  With  respect  to outdoor sites, where the temperature reaches or
     2  exceeds ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit, the  employer  shall  allow  and
     3  encourage  employees to take a minimum ten minute preventative cool-down
     4  rest period every two hours.
     5    5.  Personal  protective equipment. Employers shall provide the neces-
     6  sary protective equipment, gear, and uniforms to withstand  temperatures
     7  at  or  exceeding  the heat stress thresholds to the extent practicable.
     8  This may include, but is not limited to:
     9    (a) Fans, if possible;
    10    (b) Air-conditioning, which shall be mandated in all delivery vehicles
    11  and warehouses in an industry identified in this article; and
    12    (c) Anything additional deemed necessary by the department  to  combat
    13  extreme heat.
    14    6.  Vehicle  standards. Employees who spend more than sixty minutes in
    15  workplace or employer provided vehicles each day or  whose  worksite  is
    16  considered  an  employer provided vehicle shall have adequate air-condi-
    17  tioning available inside such vehicle.
    18    § 745. Education and  training.  1.  Training.  The  department  shall
    19  create a training curriculum outlining the signs of heat illness and the
    20  available  medical responses. Such training shall be administered by the
    21  employer at time of hiring or the employee's training fund if  a  member
    22  of organized labor.
    23    2.  Mandated  signage  and  materials. The department shall promulgate
    24  signage and educational materials that are required to be made available
    25  to employees by their employer  in  the  twelve  most  common  languages
    26  spoken in the state regarding the following:
    27    (a) Signs of heat illness;
    28    (b) Heat stress thresholds;
    29    (c) Employer required protections from heat stress thresholds;
    30    (d)  Where  employees  can report an employer's lack of accommodation;
    31  and
    32    (e) Anything else deemed necessary by the department.
    33    3. Unlawful retaliation.   For the purposes  of  this  article,  there
    34  shall be a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employer
    35  in any manner discriminates, retaliates, or  takes  any  adverse  action
    36  against  any  employee  within  ninety days of the employee initiating a
    37  complaint pursuant to this article.
    38    4. Outreach campaign.   The department  shall  establish  a  statewide
    39  outreach  campaign  to  educate  employees on the heat illness standards
    40  established and ensure that employers are  providing  access  to  proper
    41  signage and materials.
    42    §  746.  Enforcement.  The department shall promulgate rules and regu-
    43  lations to require the following:
    44    1. Every employer in a covered industry  shall  collect  and  maintain
    45  data  and  records  as  required  by  the department on all heat-related
    46  illnesses and fatalities which occur at an outdoor or indoor worksite.
    47    2. Every employer in a covered industry shall submit  reports  of  the
    48  data  collected  pursuant to subdivision one of this section annually to
    49  the department and such reports shall be published by the department  on
    50  a  searchable  database.  Employers shall make such reports available to
    51  any employee or applicable labor organization upon  request  within  ten
    52  business  days.  An extreme heat-related fatality on a construction site
    53  shall be deemed a work-related injury  for  the  purposes  of  reporting
    54  pursuant to section forty-four of this chapter.
    55    3.  Every  employer  in a covered industry shall submit for approval a
    56  written plan on how heat-related stress will be mitigated to the depart-
        A. 8935--B                          5

     1  ment. Once approved by the department, an employer  shall  provide  such
     2  plan  to  all  employees and applicable labor organizations on an annual
     3  basis.
     4    4.  Every employer in a covered industry shall be subject to fines for
     5  not adhering to  the  mandatory  reporting  and  enforcement  protocols.
     6  Employers  shall  be  required  to  pay  penalties of no less than fifty
     7  dollars per day for failing to implement heat  protection  standards  as
     8  set  forth  in this article.  The department shall administer notice and
     9  collect all fines.
    10    5. The department shall establish a worker hotline and an online  form
    11  where  employees  can file complaints with the department regarding heat
    12  protection standards.
    13    6. Any other reporting or enforcement protocols  necessary  to  ensure
    14  the protection of workers.
    15    §  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    16  have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
    17  repeal of any rule or regulation   necessary for the  implementation  of
    18  this  act  on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
    19  on or before such effective date.