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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 27, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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heat-related deaths with 3.06 deaths per 1 million workers from 20002010.
Construction had 13 95% confidence interval, 10.116.7 times the risk of heat-related deaths with 1.13 deaths per 1 million workers during that time period Gubernot et al., February 2015.
Many job tasks, regardless of the industry in which they are performed, may also result in the risk of exertional heat stress in workers. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists ACGIH has developed categories of work intensity based on their estimated metabolic rate, with the metabolic rate increasing across categories: rest e.g., sitting, light e.g., sitting, standing, light arm/handwork, occasional walking, moderate e.g., normal walking, moderate lifting, heavy e.g., heavy material handling, walking at a fast pace, very heavy e.g., pick and shovel work ACGIH, 2017;
OSHA, September 15, 2017. In an evaluation of 14 heat-related workplace fatalities that occurred from 20112016, the workload was moderate, heavy, or very heavy in 13 of the incidents Tustin et al., July 6, 2018. Of 20 enforcement cases from 20122013 that resulted in heat-related citations under the Occupational Safety and Health Acts General Duty Clause, all fatalities and non-fatal heat-related illnesses occurred under moderate or heavy workloads Arbury et al., April 2016.
The following questions are intended to solicit information about how hazardous heat exposure and risk varies across industries, occupations, and job tasks.
8 Are there industries, occupations, or job tasks that should be considered when evaluating the health and safety impacts of hazardous heat exposure in indoor and outdoor work environments?
Please provide examples and data.
9 Are there any industries, occupations, or job tasks that are facing changes in the rate or frequency of occupational heat-related illness? Please provide examples and data.
2. Structure of Work and Work Arrangements The structure of work and various work arrangements, such as the use of temporary, gig, or contingent workers, has been found in some studies, including of non-US workers, to be associated with increased health and safety risks to workers Caban-Martinez et al., April 2018; Virtanen et al., 2005.
This may be due to a variety of reasons, including workers in these work arrangements being assigned more hazardous work tasks, being less aware of their ability to report unsafe work conditions, being less acclimatized to
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the heat conditions of the work environment, or not receiving adequate personal protective equipment PPE or training for the job duties they are conducting. These work arrangements are present in a variety of industries where workers face hazardous heat exposure, such as construction, agriculture, and landscaping, in part due to outdoor work settings and seasonality of work.
Additionally, multi-employer contexts may impact the health and safety of workers due to the need for and challenges associated with close coordination across employers on health and safety issues such as training and monitoring safe work practices OSHA, October 6, 2021a; OSHA and NIOSH, October 6, 2021. OSHA recognizes that any rulemaking will need to consider the challenges for employers and employees related to protecting those in non-traditional, variable, and multiemployer work arrangements.
The following questions are intended to solicit information about how unique and non-traditional work arrangements contribute to workers risk of heatrelated injuries and illnesses, as well as the best practices and challenges for reducing those risks in these work settings.
10 In addition to traditional work arrangements, are there specific types of work arrangements or multi-employer work arrangements that should be considered when evaluating the health and safety impacts of hazardous heat exposure in indoor and outdoor work environments?
11 What are current and best practices for protecting workers in various types of work arrangements, including temporary and multiemployer work arrangements, from hazardous heat exposure?
12 What are current challenges in and limitations of protecting workers in various types of work arrangements, including temporary and multiemployer work arrangements, from hazardous heat exposure?
3. Business Size Heat-related illnesses can occur in businesses of all sizes. An evaluation of 38 enforcement investigations involving 66 incidents of fatal and non-fatal heatrelated illness from 20112016 found that 92% of workplaces investigated had less than 250 employees Tustin et al., August 2018. In a different assessment of workplace heat-related fatalities from 20002010, almost half of all fatalities where establishment size was known 244 cases out of 359 fatalities occurred in what the authors termed very small establishments, or those with fewer
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than 10 employees Gubernot et al., February 2015. However, approximately a quarter of fatalities during that time period occurred in very large establishments with more than 100 employees Gubernot et al., February 2015.
The following questions are intended to solicit information about how business size may influence the practices and interventions implemented to prevent heat-related injuries and illnesses and the challenges experienced by businesses of varying sizes when implementing these prevention strategies. There are additional questions on the economic considerations for small entities included in Impacts on Small Entities Section IV.B. of this ANPRM.
13 How are employers in businesses of various sizes currently preventing heat-related injury and illness in workers?
14 Are there limitations or concerns in preventing heat-related injury and illness in workers that vary among businesses of various sizes?
D. Geographic Region Heat-related injury and illness among workers can occur anywhere in the United States. In 2015, Texas and California had the highest number of nonfatal injuries and illnesses with days away from work BLS, August 30, 2017.
Texas and California also accounted for a quarter of all heat-related workplace fatalities from 20002010 Gubernot et al., February 2015.
However, when the size of the worker populations are taken into account, states across the southern United States, including Mississippi, Arkansas, Nevada, West Virginia, and South Carolina, have been found to have the highest rates of heat-related workplace fatalities from 20002010 Gubernot et al., February 2015. In 2015, Kansas and South Carolina had the highest rates of heat-related nonfatal injuries and illnesses with days away from work, at 1.3 and 1.0 per 10,000 workers, respectively BLS, August 30, 2017.
Recent evidence also shows that the Southeast United States accounts for the most cases officially reported to OSHA.
As discussed in Under-reporting of Occupational Illnesses, Injuries, and Fatalities due to Hazardous Heat Section I.B. of this ANPRM, significant underreporting of workplace heatrelated injury and illness limits the understanding of the full geographic scope of outcomes. Additionally, populations that are less accustomed to hazardous heat, such as those in the Northeast or Midwest U.S., may be at increased risk of health impacts from
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