Labor groups say Arizona isn't moving fast enough to establish new protections for people whose work exposes them to the state's sizzling high temperatures. Heat is the top weather-related killer in the U.S. Seven different states have now adopted rules requiring employers to provide water breaks and other heat protections for workers, but regulations like that do not exist in Arizona, where triple-digit high temperatures can last months at a time. KJZZ's Katherine Davis-Young reports on efforts to change that.

(Video Coverage)

WASHINGTON—A worker dies from corporate negligence every 104 miutes. The suppliers of auto parts for Hyundai and Kia cars. The Subway restaurant chain. The nation’s biggest homebuilder, which let Donald Trump’s vicious and violent ICE agents raid its job sites. A snack food company that puts migrants’ children into hazardous factory jobs.

“Workers are still being poisoned, injured, exploited and killed on the job,” says Jessica Martinez, executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH), which released its annual “Dirty Dozen” report on the worst job safety and health violators nominated by its local councils and allies, and why those corporate bad actors made the list–though they’re not alone. 

Hyundai-Kia U.S. Supply Chain suppliers have been named among the nation’s worst workplaces, according to a labor safety report released Tuesday, highlighting concerns over worker safety, labor practices, and oversight within the automakers’ supplier network. The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) announced the findings during a press conference unveiling its annual “Dirty Dozen” report. Since 2013, the organization has investigated companies repeatedly linked to workplace injuries, safety violations, hazardous exposures, and labor rights concerns. Each year it publishes a list of 12 employers considered among the most dangerous or problematic workplaces in the United States.

This year marks the first time that the Hyundai-Kia U.S. Supply Chain has been included in the report.

On Wednesday, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a worker advocacy organization, released its annual “Dirty Dozen” report. One of the companies on the list of twelve was the “Hyundai-Kia U.S. Supply Chain,” which includes several facilities in Alabama.

Drawing on a tracker of OSHA inspections, the report states that twelve workers died in incidents at companies included in the Hyundai and Kia supply chain between 2015 and 2025. It also highlights the Department of Labor’s filing of a lawsuit against Hyundai and suppliers in 2024 over alleged use of child labor.

• A Massachusetts water and sewer line construction contractor and the largest homebuilder in the U.S. are among the 2026 “Dirty Dozen” employers named by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health for alleged unsafe practices putting workers at risk.
• The report, released Wednesday, singled out Revoli Construction for “decades of trenching violations” which included a fatal collapse, in addition to Texas-based D.R. Horton for “repeated safety violations and hazardous construction jobsite conditions amid ICE enforcement actions.”

On April 22, 2026, marking the beginning of Workers’ Memorial Week the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) has released its 2026 Dirty Dozen report, identifying twelve companies that have put workers’ lives at risk through unsafe practices, inadequate protections, and systemic neglect. The report comes as federal workplace health and safety penalties drop nearly 45 percent during the current administration, according to Good Jobs First, raising alarm about declining enforcement just as preventable deaths, injuries, and illnesses continue across the country. The Dirty Dozen underscores the urgent need for stronger enforcement and corporate accountability.

Today CommonSpirit Health has been named to the “Dirty Dozen 2026” list by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH), a national organization dedicated to strengthening workplace health and safety. The annual list from NCOSH names 12 companies whose disturbing disregard for safety includes repeated and serious violations of workplace safety laws and a history of ignoring known hazards.

Workers at New York’s three major airports have had to endure extreme heat, unsafe working conditions, and wage theft. And this week — which happens to be Workers Memorial Week — their employer, Alliance Ground International (AGI), has been cited in a new report as one of the worst employers in the country.

In its annual “Dirty Dozen” Report, the National Conference on Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), which cites Documented’s reporting, flagged AGI for numerous workplace safety violations across the country. 

Advocates and laborers highlight rising workplace fatalities and declining federal enforcement in the 2026 report. 

National COSH is set to release its annual "Dirty Dozen" report on Wednesday, identifying 12 employers that advocates say put workers at risk through unsafe labor practices and hazardous environments.

A critical federal oversight mechanism for workplace heat safety expires on April 8, leaving millions of laborers without targeted protections as the summer season begins.

OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) on heat, launched in 2022, provided the agency with a framework to proactively inspect high-risk worksites. Without the program, National COSH warns that employer accountability will drop just as temperatures nationwide begin to climb.

A federal program aimed at protecting workers from heat-related injuries is set to expire April 8, raising concerns about enforcement gaps heading into the summer months.

In 2022, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration launched the national emphasis program, allowing the agency to inspect high-risk workplaces to prevent heat-related injuries and deaths. The program resulted in about 7,000 inspections in industries with high risks of exposure to extreme heat.

Jessica E. Martinez, executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, said allowing the program to expire at the start of summer is dangerous and unacceptable. Providing workers with water, shade, rest breaks and acclimatization periods are simple, evidence-based steps to reduce heat-related injuries.

A non-profit organization dedicated to promoting safe, healthy, and just working conditions is warning that the expiration today OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) on heat will leave millions of workers without enforceable federal protections.

With hot temperatures already here in many parts of the U.S. the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) is calling for a comprehensive heat standard that requires employers to protect workers from extreme heat. 

OSHA’s heat exposure NEP, launched in 2022, created a nationwide enforcement mechanism that allowed the agency to proactively inspect high-risk workplaces and prevent heat-related illnesses, injuries, and deaths. Since its implementation, the program has led to approximately 7,000 inspections in industries with the highest exposure to extreme heat.

Temperatures in the Phoenix area climb above 100 degrees 111 days out of the year, on average — some parts of Arizona endure even longer heat seasons. And more than 1 million people in the state work in jobs where they’re regularly exposed to these extreme temperatures, according to an estimate from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“You take a breath and feel the heat go into your lungs and your whole body, drying out your muscles. It’s just indescribable,” said Trina David, a longtime crew chief at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. “Your shoes melt every summer walking across the tarmac because it is so hot.”

Many workers face health consequences from working in these conditions.

Workers at a Panda Express in Downtown Phoenix have walked off the job, alleging unsafe heat conditions inside the restaurant and calling on state regulators to investigate. The Panda Express is staffed by Aramark and is part of the Arizona State University Dining Hall. 

“It is suffocating”, said Vanessa Martinez, one of the Aramark workers at ASU the complaint was filed on behalf of. “I dread going into work most days. I have asthma flare-ups, and they get worse while I’m cooking. I’ve broken out in hives, and I was hospitalized for dehydration; the heat is just unbearable.”

Arizona’s first triple-digit temperatures of the year arrived last week, and Yuma briefly became one of the hottest places in the country. It was conditions that advocates say are especially dangerous for the people working outdoors in the region’s fields.

Jazmin Moreno with the nonprofit Agave Community Threads said volunteers organized an emergency phone bank last Thursday, placing more than 100 calls to state leaders, including the governor’s office and officials connected to the Industrial Commission of Arizona.

“We have been in a very long battle with our state legislator here and the Industrial Commission of Arizona and the governor’s office to demand an enforceable heat protection standard that is going to protect all outdoor workers and indoor workers subject to extreme heat,” Moreno said.

Arizona workers may soon get new heat protections on the job, but critics say they won’t mean much without the force of law.

A state advisory committee voted Tuesday to recommend proposed guidelines from the state’s Workplace Heat Safety Task Force. The guidelines aim to provide workers with access to cool water, shade, and rest. Employers would also put in place heat-illness prevention plans. A separate group called the Arizona Heat Standards Coalition has been pushing for enforceable rules. Tuesday’s vote left them frustrated.

Arizona may not get formal regulations to protect workers from extreme heat on the job anytime soon. On Tuesday, the second step in a three-part process for establishing a new heat safety standard fell short of what many labor rights groups were hoping for.

An advisory committee to the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health on Tuesday voted to recommend the Industrial Commission of Arizona consider new workplace heat safety guidelines. But the committee did not specify how Arizona employers should be held accountable for following those guidelines.

In that climate, people take dangerous jobs and stay silent about hazards. They skip water breaks in extreme heat, avoid asking for training and keep quiet about faulty equipment because they cannot risk losing a shift. Fear of retaliation has created a chilling effect in some of the most hazardous industries in America.

The city of Phoenix is adding more protections for outdoor workers exposed to extreme heat. The updates to Phoenix’s workplace heat rules come as the Industrial Commission of Arizona is considering implementing heat safety rules that would apply to workers statewide. That process is ongoing.