Sponsors (2)
The bill substantially raises immediate protections and enforceability for workers against heat and wildfire smoke—reducing illness and improving training—but does so at measurable costs and implementation/legal burdens for employers, especially small and remote operations.
Outdoor and agricultural workers (farmworkers, construction, forestry, energy, transportation workers) receive immediate, concrete protections — respirators (N95/N100 or NIOSH-certified), water, cooling, and mandatory rest breaks — reducing heat illness and smoke-related respiratory harm.
Workers gain stronger enforcement and recourse now via an immediately enforceable interim OSHA standard plus discrimination/whistleblower protections, letting employees seek enforcement before a final rule is issued.
Employers must provide training and Q&A in languages workers understand, improving workers' ability to use protections and recognize signs of heat illness or smoke exposure.
Employers—especially small farms and businesses—face new compliance costs (respirators, water/cooling, training, air filtration), which could raise prices, squeeze margins, or reduce hiring.
Mandatory rest breaks (e.g., 10 minutes every 2 hours) reduce productive time and can lower pay for piece-rate or daily-wage workers and reduce daily harvest output.
Naming specific fatalities and enforcing an interim OSHA standard increases the risk of litigation and liability claims against employers and local governments, producing legal and administrative burdens.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Imposes an immediate OSHA initial standard requiring respirators, cooling/water, breaks, and multilingual training for farmworkers exposed to wildfire smoke and excessive heat, and mandates a final rule within a set timeline.
Official title: Establish an occupational safety and health standard to protect farmworkers from wildfire smoke and excessive heat, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 31, 2025 by Jeff Merkley · Last progress July 31, 2025
Creates an immediate, temporary OSHA standard requiring agricultural employers to protect farmworkers from wildfire smoke and excessive heat and directs the Secretary of Labor to issue a permanent standard. From enactment until the final rule is issued, covered employers must provide NIOSH-certified respirators for smoke, water and cooling for heat, mandatory rest breaks in shaded or lower-exposure areas, training in languages workers understand (including Indigenous languages), and require respirator use when conditions are “extremely dangerous.” The Secretary must begin rulemaking within 90 days and the final rule must be at least as protective as the initial measure and no less protective than the most protective State standard.