Bill > A5898

Introduced Session

This bill requires the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to establish by rule a heat stress standard that contains the following: (1) a standard that establishes heat stress levels for employers that, if exceeded, trigger actions by employers to protect employees from heat-related illness and injury. (2) a requirement that each employer develop, implement, and maintain an effective heat-related illness and injury prevention plan for employees. The heat-related illness and injury prevention plan referred to above is required, to the extent permitted by federal law, to be developed and implemented with the meaningful participation of employees and employee representatives, including collective bargaining representatives; will be tailored and specific to the hazards in the place of employment; will be in writing in both English and in the language understood by a majority of the employer's employees, if that language is not English; and will be made available at a time and in a manner set forth by the commissioner in rule, to employees, employee representatives, including collective bargaining representatives, and to the commissioner. The bill provides that the commissioner may issue a stop-work order against the employer requiring cessation of all business operations of the employer at one or more worksites or across all of the employer's worksites and places of business if the commissioner determines, after either an initial determination as a result of an audit of a business or an investigation pursuant to the bill, that an employer is in violation of the bill's provisions. Under the bill, after initially creating a heat-related illness and injury prevention plan, employers will be required to conduct an annual review to determine whether revisions to their plans are necessary. The bill imposes penalties and potential imprisonment for violations of its provisions.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Annette Quijano (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee (on 12/18/2023)

Official Document