Biden administration proposes rule to protect workers from extreme heat [Video]

Employers would have to take steps to protect tens of millions of U.S. workers from extreme heat under a rule proposed by the Biden Administration on Tuesday. 

In what would be the first major regulation of its kind, the new rule would add safeguards for workers nationwide, requiring employer training to identify heat hazards and provide “rest breaks, access to shade and water and heat acclimatization for new employees,” the White House said in a news release.

Those affected by excessive heat at work include farmworkers, delivery and construction workers, landscapers as well as those who earn a living in warehouses, factories and kitchens. 

Under the proposal by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the agency would adopt two heat index thresholds nationally, factoring in both humidity and temperature. 

“If finalized, OSHA projects the rule …