Sponsors (61)
The bill shields small employers from new federal heat-prevention requirements and preserves regulatory flexibility, but increases health risks and economic harm for vulnerable workers and weakens public health preparedness for rising heat threats.
Small employers (especially outdoor and indoor businesses) avoid new OSHA heat-prevention compliance costs, reducing immediate regulatory expenses and administrative burdens.
Employers and states retain regulatory flexibility because a new federal heat-prevention rule would be blocked, avoiding potential duplication of state or employer-led protections.
Outdoor and indoor workers (construction, transportation, energy, and low-income employees) face higher risk of heat illness, injuries, and lost workdays because OSHA cannot finalize or enforce a federal heat-prevention standard requiring protections like water, rest, shade, and acclimatization.
Blocking a federal workplace preventive standard weakens public health and emergency preparedness for rising heat risks from climate change, affecting community resilience in both urban and rural areas.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prevents the Secretary of Labor from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing OSHA’s proposed heat-injury prevention standard or any substantially similar rule.
Official title: To prohibit the Secretary of Labor from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing a proposed standard with respect to heat injury and illness prevention.
Introduced November 20, 2025 by Mark B. Messmer · Last progress November 20, 2025
Immediately bars the Secretary of Labor from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing OSHA’s proposed “Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings” standard (published Aug 30, 2024) or any substantially similar standard. The prohibition applies nationwide and takes effect upon enactment, preventing the federal workplace safety agency from issuing that heat-protection regulation.