Column from DMEC: Why Should Employers Care about Rising Rates of Heat?

By Kerri Wizner, MPH, CPH, Head of Epidemiology & Gage Koeller, MPH, Senior Research Analyst at MDGuidelines

Full article here: Why Should Employers Care about Rising Rates of Heat?

Publication date: April 2026

Is your organization based in a state with temperature protections for employees?

In 2025, 18 states proposed workplace temperature protections,¹ and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began working on ways to protect workers from heat-related illnesses. Employers need to be ready.

Acute or chronic heat exposure can lead to fainting, rashes, heat stroke, organ failure, and death. Heat-related stress incidents for workers are increasing,² and rates of heat-related injuries and mortality are also on the rise.³

As a result, the number of heat-related laws is increasing across the nation. Employers play a key role in keeping employees safe, and since heat is the No. 1 weather-related cause of death in the U.S., accommodations such as shifting work hours, adding water stations, and offering enhanced training should become priorities to maintain a safe work environment.

One tip to consider: As part of annual employee training, include awareness campaigns about how to identify heat stress symptoms and when to seek medical care.

Heat stress is expected to affect disability leave burden in terms of lost income and productivity if employers don’t take action, according to industry analysts.⁴ While providing a safe work environment is key to preventing heat stress, workers may experience heat events outside work, which prompts leave requests.

Heat stress is not just about temperature. It’s about humidity, radiant heat, wind, physical activity, and clothing.⁵ Young and new workers are at high risk for heat stress at work if they are not acclimatized to the environment.⁶ While employees who work outdoors in construction and agriculture commonly face heat stress, a rising number of indoor jobs become too hot during extreme weather events, including jobs at bakeries, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities.⁷

As heat stress rates rise, states have begun to implement heat standards to protect employees. Seven states have heat safety regulation laws, and more are considering them. Employers can be proactive and consider monitoring, scheduled rest and hydration breaks, acclimatization protocols, and heat illness training for all outdoor workers. This is recommended considering that state and federal standards are likely to be implemented in the future.

Effective heat stress management begins with a comprehensive hazard assessment like the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Criteria for Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot Environments to assess environmental heat, workload, humidity, and use of protective clothing.⁸

For employees who work outdoors, providing adequate water, frequent rest breaks in shaded or cool areas, and acclimatization schedules can help employers protect their teams. For employees who work indoors, air conditioning or ventilation can be added to the hazard assessment list.

Forward-thinking employers will consider heat stress prevention as part of emergency planning to protect workers’ health and reduce lost time, medical costs, and operational disruptions that may result from heat-related incidents.

References

1. MultiState. State Extreme Weather Laws: 18 States Propose Heat Safety Legislation in 2025. Retrieved from https://www.multistate.us/insider/2025/7/16/state-extreme-weather-laws-18-states-propose-heat-safety-legislation-in-2025
2. PLOS Climate. Rise in heat related mortality in the United States. 2023;2(3): e0000610. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000610
3. WKOW News. ER visits for heat-related illnesses spike — and hard-hit places aren’t always the hottest. June 26, 2024. Retrieved from https://www.wkow.com/news/health/er-visits-for-heat-related-illnesses-spike-and-hard-hit-places-aren-t-always-the/article_f22fa2c6-8ce5-5b60-a492-a14a7143c008.html 
4. Front Public Health. Occupational Heat Stress, Heat-related Effects and the Related Social and Economic Loss: A Scoping Literature Review. Aug. 2, 2023. Retrieved from doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1173553
5. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Heat Exposure. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/heat-exposure
6. Am J Ind Med. 2024. Heat Exposure and Occupational Injuries: Review of the Literature and Implications for Worker Safety. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajim.23191
7. PLOS Climate. Rise in heat related mortality in the United States. 2023;2(3): e0000610. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000610
8. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. NIOSH Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot Environments. 2016. Publication No. 2016-106. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2016-106/default.html