For immediate release
Contact: Roger Kerson, roger@nationalcosh.org, 734.645.0535

LOS ANGELES:  Two months after the tragic and preventable death of Baltimore sanitation worker Ronald Silver II from exposure to extreme heat, the state of Maryland became the sixth state in the U.S. to enact heat safety protections for workers.

Maryland’s statewide heat stress standard, which took effect Monday, September 30, was made significantly stronger during the rulemaking process thanks to timely, effective advocacy from National COSH advisors.

“We’re tremendously grateful for the efforts of our Maryland-based National COSH advisors, Darryl Alexander, Deb Berkowitz, Robyn Robbins and Scott Schneider,” said National COSH Executive Director Jessica E. Martinez. “Joining a coalition of labor unions, partners and allies, COSH advisors provided technical support to assure an effective final standard. That means Maryland workers will have more tools to stay safe when temperatures rise again next summer.”

“It’s great that workers in Maryland and in communities like Phoenix, Tucson, and Pima County are winning new protections,” said Martinez. “But workers in the vast majority of U.S. cities and states are still unprotected. That’s why the nationwide standard proposed by OSHA is so important.”

Maryland joins five states – California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington – which already have statewide heat standards in place; 44 states do not.

In 2020, the Maryland legislature passed legislation requiring the state’s Department of Labor to enact a heat safety standard. The first draft, prepared during the administration of former Gov. Larry Hogan, had serious flaws, including an inadequate temperature threshold that would have left workers unprotected on many hot days, and no requirement for employers to put heat safety plans in writing.

Under current Gov. Wes Moore, who took office in 2023, the proposed heat stress standard was significantly revised and improved.

“I’m happy Maryland has become the sixth state with protections for workers from heat,” said Schneider, an industrial hygienist and former director of occupational safety and health for the Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America. “It’s a good start, with room for more improvements. But it’s tragic that it took five years to get this regulation on the books due to unnecessary delays during the Hogan administration. We could have had strong rules in place much sooner – and if we had, Ron Silver and other workers who died from extreme heat might still be alive.”

“The new Maryland standard on heat will go a long way in saving lives and preventing work-related illness from heat,” said Deb Berkowitz, a COSH advisor and a fellow at the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. “The Maryland Department of Labor and Governor Wes Moore have made a great difference in the lives of workers in the state, a sharp contrast to the previous administration.”

The new Maryland standard requires employers to provide rest, water and shade when the heat index reaches 80 degrees. Employers must also create a written heat safety plan; provide training for workers at risk, and allow workers to get acclimatized, so they are not suddenly exposed to extreme heat.

“We’re especially heartened that indoor workers in warehouses, restaurants and other unconditioned, dangerously hot workplaces have these protections” said Alexander, an industrial hygienist and former director of health and safety for the American Federation of Teachers.

Unlike the proposed nationwide OSHA heat stress standard, however, Maryland rules do not require employers to involve workers in the development of a heat safety plan.That’s a mistake, said Alexander, “Workers know their jobs,” she said.“They know when it gets hot, where the dangers are – and they know how to reduce risks and stay safe. Employers sometimes just forget to ask the people who are working for them to help them come up with a good plan.”

U.S. OSHA published its proposed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Standard in the Federal Register in August; it is open for public comment through December 30, 2024. The standard requires employers to provide rest, water, shade and other protections during periods of extreme heat and also calls for workers to be involved in developing a heat safety plan.

National COSH is circulating a petition in support of the proposed OSHA rule and is working with unions, workers’ centers and advocacy groups to assist workers who want to participate in the public comment process.

“Temperatures are rising and workers are getting sick and dying,” said Martinez. “Extreme heat happens everywhere. That’s why we need the strongest possible local and state standards – and a national heat safety standard that protects all workers.”

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