OSHA revises heat focus

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has rewritten its heat enforcement playbook, dropping a former inspection-growth target from the federal program it renewed on April 10. (osha.gov) The revised National Emphasis Program took effect immediately and will run for five years. OSHA said it now uses agency and Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2022 through 2025 to steer inspections toward 55 high-risk industries in construction, agriculture, maritime, and general industry. (osha.gov) OSHA said the update “eliminates the former numerical inspection goal,” adds a reorganized appendix for evaluating employer heat programs, and adds another for citation guidance. The new directive also says inspectors will keep doing random heat inspections on days when the National Weather Service issues a heat advisory or warning. (osha.gov 1) (osha.gov 2) The agency renewed the heat program two days after the prior version expired on April 8, 2026. OSHA had extended the original April 8, 2022 directive through April 8, 2026 while it prepared the rewrite. (osha.gov 1) (osha.gov 2) Federal heat enforcement has already been active under the old program. OSHA said it conducted about 7,000 heat-related inspections between April 8, 2022 and December 29, 2024, issued 60 General Duty Clause heat citations, and sent 1,392 hazard alert letters. (osha.gov) Hong Kong is adjusting a different kind of workplace heat system on a similar timetable. Its Labour Department said that from April 20, 2026, it will use 10 monitoring stations, up from one main trigger point at King’s Park, when deciding whether to issue a Heat Stress at Work Warning. (labour.gov.hk) (newsprd.rthk.hk) Hong Kong’s warning system, launched in 2023, is color-coded amber, red, and black. When a warning is in effect, employers are required to give hourly rest periods to people working outdoors or in indoor spaces without air-conditioning, according to public broadcaster RTHK’s summary of the rules. (labour.gov.hk) (newsprd.rthk.hk) From April 20, Hong Kong said it will issue a warning if any four of the 10 stations show conditions severe enough to trigger one, even if King’s Park alone does not. The added locations include Chek Lap Kok, Happy Valley, Kowloon Bay, Sha Tin, Wetland Park, Wong Chuk Hang, Kau Sai Chau, the Hong Kong Observatory headquarters, and Beas River. (newsprd.rthk.hk) (scmp.com) The two changes point in different directions: OSHA is tightening how it targets enforcement, while Hong Kong is broadening how it measures heat before issuing work warnings. Both systems now put more weight on current data than on fixed numeric targets or a single weather station. (osha.gov 1) (osha.gov 2) (labour.gov.hk) (newsprd.rthk.hk)