ASSP releases voluntary standard on heat stress

Park Ridge, IL — A recently published voluntary consensus standard is intended to reduce the risk of “heat stress due to heat exposures” among construction and demolition workers.

ANSI/ASSP A10.50-2024, issued by the American National Standards Institute and the American Society of Safety Professionals in February, is the first of its kind, offering “engineering and administrative controls a company can implement to ensure that workers get proper rest, water breaks and shade while still meeting business needs,” an ASSP press release states.

Other features:

• Recommendations for training workers and supervisors
• Methods for acclimatizing workers to high heat conditions
• Checklists and flow charts intended to help employers develop heat stress management programs

Guidance from the standard can be adapted to protect workers involved in outdoor occupations such as tree trimming, farming, road maintenance and pipeline painting.

“This new industry consensus standard is an important development because there is no federal regulation focused on heat stress,” ASSP President Jim Thornton said in the release.

OSHA’s proposed rule on protecting workers from extreme heat exposure in indoor and outdoor settings remains in the works amid persistent calls for a standard from industry groups and lawmakers.

Last spring, the agency initiated a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act panel review – the next step before a proposed standard is published.

OSHA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on Oct. 27, 2021. The agency’s National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health formed a work group on heat injury and illness prevention soon after. Members met five times to form recommendations for a possible final rule and discuss existing agency guidance materials.

The work group presented a report of its findings and formal recommendations to NACOSH on May 31. NACOSH accepted a motion to forward them to OSHA, in addition to a sample exposure control plan/heat illness prevention plan.

OSHA accepted comment on the proposed rule until Dec. 23.