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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 27, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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extreme heat, particularly during early season high heat events Anderson and Bell, February 2011.
The following questions are intended to solicit information, relevant data sources, and considerations related to occupational heat exposure and outcomes based on geographic region.
15 How does geographic region contribute to occupational heat hazards and the outcomes experienced by workers? Please provide examples and data.
16 Are there regions with improving or worsening occupational heat hazards and associated outcomes? Please provide examples and data.
17 Do regions with traditional and pervasive heat hazards address the hazard differently than regions with more episodic exposures e.g., heat waves in a normally temperate region?
18 What regional differences should be considered or accounted for when determining the appropriate interventions and practices to prevent heat-related injuries and illnesses among workers?
E. Inequality in Exposures and Outcomes Disproportionate exposure to hazardous working conditions and their resulting health and safety impacts on workers exacerbates socioeconomic and racial inequalities in the U.S. In assessments of national work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, employment in high-risk occupations has been disproportionately held by those who are Black, foreign-born, or low wage-earners, after adjusting for other demographic characteristics like sex and education Steege et al., 2014.
Non-Hispanic Black workers and foreign-born Hispanic workers tend to work in jobs with the highest injury risks even after adjusting for sex and education Seabury et al., February 2017. Sociodemographic disparities in hazardous occupational exposures to dust and chemicals, noise, musculoskeletal hazards, and strain have been found to persist even after accounting for industry and job Quinn et al., 2007.
These disparities are also present when focusing on health and safety outcomes that result from hazardous heat exposure. Black and Hispanic workers had higher relative risks of heat-related fatalities compared to white workers from 20002010 Gubernot et al., February 2015, and one-third of workplace heat-related fatalities since 2010 have occurred in Hispanic workers Shipley et al., August 17, 2021. From 19922006, agricultural crop workers were estimated to be 20 times more
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likely to suffer a heat-related fatality at work when compared to all other civilian occupations, with the majority of fatalities occurring among immigrant workers CDC, June 20, 2008, and from 20002010, agricultural workers had 35
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times the risk of dying from heat-related causes compared to all other industries Gubernot et al., February 2015. Lowerwage workers are more likely to live and work in areas facing greater exposure to hazardous heat, to work in dangerous occupations, and to have limited access to air conditioning at home or other housing which may limit the ability to recover from occupational and nonoccupational heat exposures. In California, lower-wage workers experienced five times as many heatrelated injuries compared to the highestwage workers between 2001 and 2018
Park et al., July 2021. As climate change increases extreme heat events, Hispanic and Latino individuals, as well as American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, individuals with low income, and individuals lacking a high school diploma are more likely to live in areas with the highest projected labor hour losses EPA, September 2, 2021.
The following questions are intended to solicit information, relevant data sources, and considerations related to inequalities in occupational heat exposure and disproportionate outcomes experienced by vulnerable occupational populations.
19 Are there specific populations facing disproportionate exposure to or outcomes from hazardous heat in indoor or outdoor work settings? Please provide examples and data.
20 Are there data sources available to assess inequalities in exposure to or outcomes from hazardous heat in indoor or outdoor work settings?
21 Are there industries or employers who are addressing occupational heatrelated illness with an environmental justice approach i.e., with a focus on fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income to appropriately address the disproportionate exposures and outcomes faced by workers of color, low-wage workers, immigrant workers, or pregnant workers NIOSH, April 20, 2017? Please provide examples and data.
F. Climate Change Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events, as well as increasing daily average daytime and nighttime temperatures. The National Climate Assessment, the United States
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quadrennial report assessing climate change science and impacts and published by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, states that high summer temperatures are linked to increased illness and death, that hot days are associated with increased heatrelated illnesses, that health risks may be higher earlier in warmer seasons before people have had time to acclimatize, and that workers will face an increased risk of heat-related illness due to heat exposure. This will be especially true in rural areas, particular sectors and occupations such as agriculture, forestry, construction, utilities, warehousing, manufacturing, and indoor workplaces producing additional heat or lacking adequate cooling, such as steel mills, dry cleaning, and others, and for workers of color, those who are older, and of lower socioeconomic status USGCRP, 2016;
USGCRP, 2018. It is estimated that under a high emissions scenario, climate change will result in the annual loss of almost 2 billion labor hours with an annual cost of an estimated $160
billion in lost wages in 2015 dollars due to extreme temperatures alone, the vast majority of which is due to heat EPA, May 2017; USGCRP, 2018. As the number of days above 90 degrees Fahrenheit increases due to climate change, so do lost hours of work.
Nationally, the average losses are projected to be 14 to 34 hours annually per weather-exposed worker due to high temperature days. Weatherexposed workers in parts of the Southwest and Southern Great Plains could lose up to 84 hours per worker annually, depending on the level of temperature increases EPA, September 1, 2021.
The following questions are intended to solicit information, relevant data sources, and considerations to further assess the impact of climate change on occupational heat exposure and outcomes.
22 Are there data sources available to assess how climate change is altering hazardous heat exposure in outdoor and indoor work environments?
23 How will climate change affect existing inequities in occupational heat exposure and related health outcomes?
Please provide relevant data.
24 How will climate change affect the risk of occupational heat-related illness and mortality in the different regions of the United States?
25 How should climate change be factored into an OSHA heat illness and injury prevention standard?
26 What efforts are employers currently taking to prepare for and respond to the ways that climate change
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