Arizona 2022 Regular Session

Arizona House Bill HB2708 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
OldNewDifferences
11 REFERENCE TITLE: working conditions; heat illness; prevention State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session 2022 HB 2708 Introduced by Representatives Cano: Andrade, Blackwater-Nygren, Butler, DeGrazia, Pawlik, Powers Hannley, Quionez, Schwiebert, Solorio, Tsosie AN ACT amending Title 23, chapter 2, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 23-207; relating to working conditions. (TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
22
33
44
55
66
77
88
99 REFERENCE TITLE: working conditions; heat illness; prevention
1010 State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session 2022
1111 HB 2708
1212 Introduced by Representatives Cano: Andrade, Blackwater-Nygren, Butler, DeGrazia, Pawlik, Powers Hannley, Quionez, Schwiebert, Solorio, Tsosie
1313
1414 REFERENCE TITLE: working conditions; heat illness; prevention
1515
1616
1717
1818
1919
2020
2121
2222
2323
2424 State of Arizona
2525
2626 House of Representatives
2727
2828 Fifty-fifth Legislature
2929
3030 Second Regular Session
3131
3232 2022
3333
3434
3535
3636
3737
3838
3939
4040 HB 2708
4141
4242
4343
4444 Introduced by
4545
4646 Representatives Cano: Andrade, Blackwater-Nygren, Butler, DeGrazia, Pawlik, Powers Hannley, Quionez, Schwiebert, Solorio, Tsosie
4747
4848
4949
5050
5151
5252 AN ACT
5353
5454
5555
5656 amending Title 23, chapter 2, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 23-207; relating to working conditions.
5757
5858
5959
6060
6161
6262 (TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
6363
6464
6565
6666 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. Title 23, chapter 2, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 23-207, to read: START_STATUTE23-207. Heat illness prevention; rules; definitions A. The industrial commission of Arizona shall adopt rules establishing reasonable standards as provided in this section that are designed to protect employees from heat illness while engaged in outdoor work. These standards apply to all indoor and outdoor places of employment and to all employers that fall within the jurisdiction of the division of occupational safety and health, except that only employers engaged in the following industries are required to comply with the standards established pursuant to subsection D of this section: 1. Agriculture. 2. Construction. 3. Landscaping. 4. Oil and gas extraction. 5. Transportation or delivery of agricultural products, construction materials or other heavy materials, including furniture, lumber, freight, cargo, cabinets and industrial or commercial materials, except for employment that consists of operating an air-conditioned vehicle and that does not include loading or unloading. B. Standards adopted pursuant to this section must require each employer to provide potable water as follows: 1. An employer shall provide employees, at no cost to the employees, access to drinking water in quantities sufficient to maintain adequate levels of hydration at varying levels of heat, using a baseline of one cup of cool water per fifteen to twenty minutes, as well as electrolytes if employees are sweating for more than two hours. 2. The water must be located as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working and may not be farther than four hundred feet walking distance from an employee's work area. 3. Employers may begin the shift with smaller quantities of water than required pursuant to this subsection if effective procedures are established for replenishment during the shift as needed. 4. The employer shall provide water that is filtered, fresh, pure and suitably cool and shall provide the water to employees free of charge. 5. The employer shall encourage the frequent drinking of water as described in subsection H, paragraph 3, subdivision (c). C. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to provide access to shade or a climate-controlled environment as follows: 1. When the temperature in the work area exceeds one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, the employer shall provide and maintain at all times while employees are present one or more areas with shade or a climate-controlled environment that are either open to the air or provided with ventilation or cooling. The amount of shade or climate-controlled environment provided shall be at least enough to accommodate the number of employees on rest periods so that they can sit in a normal posture fully in the shade or climate-controlled environment without having to be in physical contact with each other. The shade or climate-controlled environment shall be located as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working. Subject to the same specifications, the amount of shade or climate-controlled environment present during meal periods shall be at least enough to accommodate the number of employees on the meal period who remain onsite. 2. When the temperature in the work area does not exceed one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, employers shall provide either shade or a climate-controlled environment in accordance with paragraph 1 of this subsection or provide timely access to shade or a climate-controlled environment on an employee's request. 3. An employer shall allow and encourage employees to take a cool-down rest period in the shade or climate-controlled environment for preventative measures. An employer shall comply with all of the following when an employee takes a preventative cool-down rest period pursuant to this paragraph: (a) The employer shall ask if the employee is experiencing symptoms of heat illness. (b) The employer shall encourage the employee to remain in the shade or climate-controlled environment. (c) The employer may not order the employee back to work until any signs or symptoms of heat illness have abated, but not less than five minutes in addition to the time needed to access the shade or climate-controlled environment. 4. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection, except for employers in the agricultural industry, cooling measures other than shade or a climate-controlled environment, including the use of misting machines, may be provided instead of shade if the employer is able to demonstrate that these measures are at least as effective as shade in allowing employees to be cooled. D. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to implement high-heat procedures that do all of the following when the temperature equals or exceeds ninety degrees Fahrenheit: 1. Ensure that employees are able to contact their supervisor by any method of effective communication when necessary. 2. Require an employer to effectively observe and monitor employees for signs or symptoms of heat illness by implementing two or more of the following policies: (a) A requirement that there be at least one supervisor or supervisor's designee responsible for observing and monitoring each group of twenty or fewer employees. (b) A mandatory buddy system. (c) Regular and frequent communication with an employee, such as by radio or cellphone. (d) Other effective means of observation. 3. Designate one or more employees on each worksite who are authorized to call for emergency medical services, and if no designated employees are available, allow other employees to call on their behalf. 4. Require reminding employees throughout the work shift to stay properly hydrated. 5. For employees employed in agriculture, require pre-shift meetings before the beginning of each work shift to review the high-heat procedures, encourage employees to drink plenty of water and remind employees of their right to take a cool-down rest period when necessary. E. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to provide rest periods as follows: 1. An employer shall provide rest periods away from the hot environment that shall range in duration from fifteen to forty-five minutes per hour, depending on the workplace temperature and worker activity level. At certain WetBulb globe temperatures, work must be stopped entirely. 2. If an employer fails to provide a rest period pursuant to this subsection, the employer shall pay the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday that a required rest period is not provided. F. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to implement effective emergency response procedures pursuant to which the employer shall both: 1. Ensure that effective communication by voice, observation or electronic means is maintained so that employees at the worksite can contact a supervisor or emergency medical services when necessary. An electronic device, such as a cellphone or text messaging device, may be used for this purpose only if reception in the area is reliable. 2. Respond to signs and symptoms of possible heat illness if a supervisor observes, or any employee reports, any signs or symptoms of heat illness in any employee. The supervisor shall take immediate action commensurate with the severity of the illness, including first aid measures and contacting emergency medical services. If the employee exhibits signs or symptoms severe enough to indicate heat illness, the employee may not be sent home without being offered onsite first aid or provided with emergency medical services. G. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require that all employees who begin employment in high-heat environments, or who will be working in hotter conditions than usual, such as during a heat wave, be gradually acclimatized to the work over a period of between seven and fourteen days. H. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to provide effective training to employees and supervisors that meets all of the following requirements: 1. Is in a language that the employee or supervisor understands. 2. Is provided to each supervisor before supervising employees performing work that may reasonably result in exposure to the risk of heat illness and to each nonsupervisory employee before the employee begins work that may reasonably result in exposure to the risk of heat illness. 3. Covers all of the following topics: (a) The environmental risk factors for heat illness and personal risk factors for heat illness, including medical conditions, water consumption, alcohol use, the use of medications that affect the body's response to the heat and the burden caused by personal protective equipment. (b) The employer's procedures for complying with the standards adopted pursuant to this section, including the employer's responsibility to provide water, shade or a climate-controlled environment, cool-down rest periods and access to first aid, as well as the employee's right to exercise rights under these standards without retaliation. (c) The importance of frequent consumption of water, up to four cups per hour, when the work environment is above one hundred degrees Fahrenheit and employees are likely sweating more than usual. (d) The importance of acclimatization. (e) The different types of heat illness, the common signs and symptoms of heat illness and appropriate first aid and emergency responses to the different types of heat illness. (f) The importance of immediately reporting to the employer, directly or through the employee's supervisor, symptoms or signs of heat illness in themselves or in coworkers. (g) The employer's procedures for responding to signs or symptoms of possible heat illness, including how emergency medical services will be contacted and provided should they become necessary. 4. For supervisors, in addition to the requirements of paragraph 3 of this subsection, covers all of the following topics: (a) The procedures the supervisor is required to follow to implement the applicable standards adopted pursuant to this section. (b) The procedures the supervisor is required to follow when an employee exhibits signs or reports symptoms consistent with possible heat illness, including emergency response procedures. (c) The procedures for moving or transporting an employee to a place where the employee can be reached by an emergency medical service provider, if necessary. I. In adopting standards pursuant to this section, the industrial commission of Arizona shall consider criteria relating to recommended standards for occupational exposure to heat and hot environments established by a national institute for occupational safety and health. J. The rules adopted by the industrial commission of Arizona pursuant to this section shall include enforcement provisions. K. An employer may not discharge or discriminate in any other manner against employees for exercising their rights under this section. L. A person may bring an action for a violation of this section in a court of competent jurisdiction to do either or both of the following: 1. Enjoin the violation. 2. Recover actual monetary losses from the violation or receive $500 in damages for each violation, whichever is greater. M. For the purposes of this section: 1. "Acclimatization" means the gradual, temporary adaptation of the body to work in the heat when a person is exposed to heat. 2. "Environmental risk factors for heat illness" means working conditions that create the possibility that heat illness could occur, including air temperature, relative humidity, radiant heat from the sun and other sources, conductive heat sources such as the ground, air movement, workload severity and duration, protective clothing and personal protective equipment worn by employees. 3. "Heat illness": (a) Means a serious medical condition resulting from the body's inability to cope with a particular heat load. (b) Includes heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat syncope and heat stroke. 4. "Heat wave" means any day in which the predicted high temperature for the day will be at least one hundred degrees Fahrenheit and at least ten degrees Fahrenheit higher than the average high daily temperature in the preceding five days. 5. "Landscaping": (a) Means providing landscape care and maintenance services, installing trees, shrubs, plants, lawns or gardens or providing these services in conjunction with the design of landscape plans. (b) Includes constructing, installing or maintaining walkways, retaining walls, decks, fences, ponds and similar structures. 6. "Oil and gas extraction" means operating or developing oil and gas field properties, exploring for crude petroleum or natural gas, mining or extracting of oil or gas or recovering liquid hydrocarbons from oil or gas field gases. 7. "Personal risk factors for heat illness" means factors such as an individual's age, degree of acclimatization, health, water consumption and use of prescription medications that affect the body's water retention or other physiological responses to heat. 8. "Potable water" has the same meaning prescribed in 29 Code of Federal Regulations section 1910.141(a)(2). 9. "Rest period" means a cool-down period made available to an employee to prevent heat illness. 10. "Shade" means the complete blockage of direct sunlight that allows the body to cool. Shade may be provided by any natural or artificial means that does not expose employees to unsafe or unhealthy conditions and does not deter or discourage access or use. END_STATUTE
6767
6868 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
6969
7070 Section 1. Title 23, chapter 2, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 23-207, to read:
7171
7272 START_STATUTE23-207. Heat illness prevention; rules; definitions
7373
7474 A. The industrial commission of Arizona shall adopt rules establishing reasonable standards as provided in this section that are designed to protect employees from heat illness while engaged in outdoor work. These standards apply to all indoor and outdoor places of employment and to all employers that fall within the jurisdiction of the division of occupational safety and health, except that only employers engaged in the following industries are required to comply with the standards established pursuant to subsection D of this section:
7575
7676 1. Agriculture.
7777
7878 2. Construction.
7979
8080 3. Landscaping.
8181
8282 4. Oil and gas extraction.
8383
8484 5. Transportation or delivery of agricultural products, construction materials or other heavy materials, including furniture, lumber, freight, cargo, cabinets and industrial or commercial materials, except for employment that consists of operating an air-conditioned vehicle and that does not include loading or unloading.
8585
8686 B. Standards adopted pursuant to this section must require each employer to provide potable water as follows:
8787
8888 1. An employer shall provide employees, at no cost to the employees, access to drinking water in quantities sufficient to maintain adequate levels of hydration at varying levels of heat, using a baseline of one cup of cool water per fifteen to twenty minutes, as well as electrolytes if employees are sweating for more than two hours.
8989
9090 2. The water must be located as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working and may not be farther than four hundred feet walking distance from an employee's work area.
9191
9292 3. Employers may begin the shift with smaller quantities of water than required pursuant to this subsection if effective procedures are established for replenishment during the shift as needed.
9393
9494 4. The employer shall provide water that is filtered, fresh, pure and suitably cool and shall provide the water to employees free of charge.
9595
9696 5. The employer shall encourage the frequent drinking of water as described in subsection H, paragraph 3, subdivision (c).
9797
9898 C. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to provide access to shade or a climate-controlled environment as follows:
9999
100100 1. When the temperature in the work area exceeds one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, the employer shall provide and maintain at all times while employees are present one or more areas with shade or a climate-controlled environment that are either open to the air or provided with ventilation or cooling. The amount of shade or climate-controlled environment provided shall be at least enough to accommodate the number of employees on rest periods so that they can sit in a normal posture fully in the shade or climate-controlled environment without having to be in physical contact with each other. The shade or climate-controlled environment shall be located as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working. Subject to the same specifications, the amount of shade or climate-controlled environment present during meal periods shall be at least enough to accommodate the number of employees on the meal period who remain onsite.
101101
102102 2. When the temperature in the work area does not exceed one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, employers shall provide either shade or a climate-controlled environment in accordance with paragraph 1 of this subsection or provide timely access to shade or a climate-controlled environment on an employee's request.
103103
104104 3. An employer shall allow and encourage employees to take a cool-down rest period in the shade or climate-controlled environment for preventative measures. An employer shall comply with all of the following when an employee takes a preventative cool-down rest period pursuant to this paragraph:
105105
106106 (a) The employer shall ask if the employee is experiencing symptoms of heat illness.
107107
108108 (b) The employer shall encourage the employee to remain in the shade or climate-controlled environment.
109109
110110 (c) The employer may not order the employee back to work until any signs or symptoms of heat illness have abated, but not less than five minutes in addition to the time needed to access the shade or climate-controlled environment.
111111
112112 4. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection, except for employers in the agricultural industry, cooling measures other than shade or a climate-controlled environment, including the use of misting machines, may be provided instead of shade if the employer is able to demonstrate that these measures are at least as effective as shade in allowing employees to be cooled.
113113
114114 D. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to implement high-heat procedures that do all of the following when the temperature equals or exceeds ninety degrees Fahrenheit:
115115
116116 1. Ensure that employees are able to contact their supervisor by any method of effective communication when necessary.
117117
118118 2. Require an employer to effectively observe and monitor employees for signs or symptoms of heat illness by implementing two or more of the following policies:
119119
120120 (a) A requirement that there be at least one supervisor or supervisor's designee responsible for observing and monitoring each group of twenty or fewer employees.
121121
122122 (b) A mandatory buddy system.
123123
124124 (c) Regular and frequent communication with an employee, such as by radio or cellphone.
125125
126126 (d) Other effective means of observation.
127127
128128 3. Designate one or more employees on each worksite who are authorized to call for emergency medical services, and if no designated employees are available, allow other employees to call on their behalf.
129129
130130 4. Require reminding employees throughout the work shift to stay properly hydrated.
131131
132132 5. For employees employed in agriculture, require pre-shift meetings before the beginning of each work shift to review the high-heat procedures, encourage employees to drink plenty of water and remind employees of their right to take a cool-down rest period when necessary.
133133
134134 E. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to provide rest periods as follows:
135135
136136 1. An employer shall provide rest periods away from the hot environment that shall range in duration from fifteen to forty-five minutes per hour, depending on the workplace temperature and worker activity level. At certain WetBulb globe temperatures, work must be stopped entirely.
137137
138138 2. If an employer fails to provide a rest period pursuant to this subsection, the employer shall pay the employee one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate of compensation for each workday that a required rest period is not provided.
139139
140140 F. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to implement effective emergency response procedures pursuant to which the employer shall both:
141141
142142 1. Ensure that effective communication by voice, observation or electronic means is maintained so that employees at the worksite can contact a supervisor or emergency medical services when necessary. An electronic device, such as a cellphone or text messaging device, may be used for this purpose only if reception in the area is reliable.
143143
144144 2. Respond to signs and symptoms of possible heat illness if a supervisor observes, or any employee reports, any signs or symptoms of heat illness in any employee. The supervisor shall take immediate action commensurate with the severity of the illness, including first aid measures and contacting emergency medical services. If the employee exhibits signs or symptoms severe enough to indicate heat illness, the employee may not be sent home without being offered onsite first aid or provided with emergency medical services.
145145
146146 G. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require that all employees who begin employment in high-heat environments, or who will be working in hotter conditions than usual, such as during a heat wave, be gradually acclimatized to the work over a period of between seven and fourteen days.
147147
148148 H. Standards adopted pursuant to this section shall require each employer to provide effective training to employees and supervisors that meets all of the following requirements:
149149
150150 1. Is in a language that the employee or supervisor understands.
151151
152152 2. Is provided to each supervisor before supervising employees performing work that may reasonably result in exposure to the risk of heat illness and to each nonsupervisory employee before the employee begins work that may reasonably result in exposure to the risk of heat illness.
153153
154154 3. Covers all of the following topics:
155155
156156 (a) The environmental risk factors for heat illness and personal risk factors for heat illness, including medical conditions, water consumption, alcohol use, the use of medications that affect the body's response to the heat and the burden caused by personal protective equipment.
157157
158158 (b) The employer's procedures for complying with the standards adopted pursuant to this section, including the employer's responsibility to provide water, shade or a climate-controlled environment, cool-down rest periods and access to first aid, as well as the employee's right to exercise rights under these standards without retaliation.
159159
160160 (c) The importance of frequent consumption of water, up to four cups per hour, when the work environment is above one hundred degrees Fahrenheit and employees are likely sweating more than usual.
161161
162162 (d) The importance of acclimatization.
163163
164164 (e) The different types of heat illness, the common signs and symptoms of heat illness and appropriate first aid and emergency responses to the different types of heat illness.
165165
166166 (f) The importance of immediately reporting to the employer, directly or through the employee's supervisor, symptoms or signs of heat illness in themselves or in coworkers.
167167
168168 (g) The employer's procedures for responding to signs or symptoms of possible heat illness, including how emergency medical services will be contacted and provided should they become necessary.
169169
170170 4. For supervisors, in addition to the requirements of paragraph 3 of this subsection, covers all of the following topics:
171171
172172 (a) The procedures the supervisor is required to follow to implement the applicable standards adopted pursuant to this section.
173173
174174 (b) The procedures the supervisor is required to follow when an employee exhibits signs or reports symptoms consistent with possible heat illness, including emergency response procedures.
175175
176176 (c) The procedures for moving or transporting an employee to a place where the employee can be reached by an emergency medical service provider, if necessary.
177177
178178 I. In adopting standards pursuant to this section, the industrial commission of Arizona shall consider criteria relating to recommended standards for occupational exposure to heat and hot environments established by a national institute for occupational safety and health.
179179
180180 J. The rules adopted by the industrial commission of Arizona pursuant to this section shall include enforcement provisions.
181181
182182 K. An employer may not discharge or discriminate in any other manner against employees for exercising their rights under this section.
183183
184184 L. A person may bring an action for a violation of this section in a court of competent jurisdiction to do either or both of the following:
185185
186186 1. Enjoin the violation.
187187
188188 2. Recover actual monetary losses from the violation or receive $500 in damages for each violation, whichever is greater.
189189
190190 M. For the purposes of this section:
191191
192192 1. "Acclimatization" means the gradual, temporary adaptation of the body to work in the heat when a person is exposed to heat.
193193
194194 2. "Environmental risk factors for heat illness" means working conditions that create the possibility that heat illness could occur, including air temperature, relative humidity, radiant heat from the sun and other sources, conductive heat sources such as the ground, air movement, workload severity and duration, protective clothing and personal protective equipment worn by employees.
195195
196196 3. "Heat illness":
197197
198198 (a) Means a serious medical condition resulting from the body's inability to cope with a particular heat load.
199199
200200 (b) Includes heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat syncope and heat stroke.
201201
202202 4. "Heat wave" means any day in which the predicted high temperature for the day will be at least one hundred degrees Fahrenheit and at least ten degrees Fahrenheit higher than the average high daily temperature in the preceding five days.
203203
204204 5. "Landscaping":
205205
206206 (a) Means providing landscape care and maintenance services, installing trees, shrubs, plants, lawns or gardens or providing these services in conjunction with the design of landscape plans.
207207
208208 (b) Includes constructing, installing or maintaining walkways, retaining walls, decks, fences, ponds and similar structures.
209209
210210 6. "Oil and gas extraction" means operating or developing oil and gas field properties, exploring for crude petroleum or natural gas, mining or extracting of oil or gas or recovering liquid hydrocarbons from oil or gas field gases.
211211
212212 7. "Personal risk factors for heat illness" means factors such as an individual's age, degree of acclimatization, health, water consumption and use of prescription medications that affect the body's water retention or other physiological responses to heat.
213213
214214 8. "Potable water" has the same meaning prescribed in 29 Code of Federal Regulations section 1910.141(a)(2).
215215
216216 9. "Rest period" means a cool-down period made available to an employee to prevent heat illness.
217217
218218 10. "Shade" means the complete blockage of direct sunlight that allows the body to cool. Shade may be provided by any natural or artificial means that does not expose employees to unsafe or unhealthy conditions and does not deter or discourage access or use. END_STATUTE