President Joe Biden’s administration is unveiling its plan for imposing the first-ever federal standards to protect US workers from heat stress, with proposed requirements that could mean more breaks, shade and drinking water for people toiling at construction sites, steel mills and other facilities.

The Labor Department proposal, being released Tuesday, comes amid record highs across the US and as climate change intensifies the risks of rocketing temperatures for America’s workforce. Extreme heat is the top weather-related killer in the US, and workers are often on the front lines, with thousands sickened from occupational heat exposure.

If finalised as written, the plan would cover an estimated 36 million workers - including in Texas and Florida, where state laws have limited such safeguards. A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail the plan before its release, said the government was confident in its authority and would be reviewing state laws to ensure they are at least as protective as what is ultimately required under this regulation.

Even so, a final measure could be a year or more away, and the effort by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration falls short of the comprehensive approach to extreme heat that some worker advocates have demanded. The standards have been under development since 2021, and the proposal will be subject to public comment and further agency review before it can be finalised.

“OSHA’s landmark rule will help protect workers from deadly heat in the future,” said Jean Su, energy justice director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. However, she added, “we need an urgent, government-wide game plan to tackle catastrophic extreme heat now.”

It isn’t clear whether the initiative would continue to advance if Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, wins a second term in November. Some business interests and industry groups have been critical of new workplace standards and have successfully thwarted some state efforts to step up safeguards.

The proposed rule generally would trigger requirements when workers are or can be expected to be exposed to a heat index of 80F (27C) or higher.

Under the plan, workers being exposed to those temperatures would have to be provided access to drinking water and a break area to cool down as well as rest breaks when needed. Employers also would be compelled to implement acclimatisation plans for new or returning employees who haven’t yet adjusted to the heat, such as with gradual increases in workload or 15-minute rest breaks every two hours.

That kind of phase-in is essential to protecting human health, advocates say, since three out of four workers who die while working due to heat-related illness do so on their first week on the job.

The proposed regulation also would force affected businesses to establish heat injury and illness prevention plans, develop procedures for responding to heat illnesses and work with employees to step up their monitoring of heat exposure to determine if there are elevated risks, whether indoors or out.

Separately Tuesday, Biden is set to receive an operational briefing from several agencies on the topic of extreme weather.

Senior administration officials said the US will also announce it has selected 93 communities and tribal nations to receive technical assistance in reducing their risk from disasters and natural hazards as part of the administration’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities programme.

  - Bloomberg