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S03412 Summary:

BILL NOS03412
 
SAME ASSAME AS A03527
 
SPONSORRAMOS
 
COSPNSRBRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, GIANARIS, GONZALEZ, HARCKHAM, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, MAY, MAYER, PARKER, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SCARCELLA-SPANTON, SERRANO, STAVISKY, WEBB
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add Art 20-D §§742 - 746, Lab L
 
Provides for the regulation of indoor and outdoor worksites with temperature protection standards and education, training and reporting requirements to ensure that employers provide safe conditions for their employees.
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S03412 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          3412
 
                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    January 27, 2025
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sens. RAMOS, BRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ,
          GIANARIS, GONZALEZ, HARCKHAM, JACKSON,  MAY,  MAYER,  PARKER,  RIVERA,
          SALAZAR,  SCARCELLA-SPANTON, SERRANO, STAVISKY, WEBB -- read twice and
          ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
          Labor

        AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to regulating the temperature
          of all indoor and outdoor worksites
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited  as  the  "temper-
     2  ature extreme mitigation program (TEMP) act".
     3    § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds and
     4  declares that New Yorkers, working both in outdoor and indoor sites, are
     5  exposed  to extreme temperatures. This involves skyrocketing heat in the
     6  summer.  Every year, New York city  has  high  numbers  of  heat-related
     7  emergency  department visits, hospital admissions, and deaths. According
     8  to the New York City Office of the Mayor, each year there are  an  esti-
     9  mated  450 heat-related ED visits, 150 heat-related hospital admissions,
    10  10 heat-stroke deaths, and 350 heat-exacerbated deaths, caused  by  heat
    11  worsening existing chronic conditions.
    12    The legislature hereby finds and declares that the government is obli-
    13  gated to ensure that employers provide safe conditions for their employ-
    14  ees.
    15    §  3. The labor law is amended by adding a new article 20-D to read as
    16  follows:
    17                                ARTICLE 20-D
    18                     TEMPERATURE REGULATION BY EMPLOYERS
    19  Section 742. Scope.
    20          743. Definitions.
    21          744. Heat protection standards.
    22          745. Education and training.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05471-02-5

        S. 3412                             2
 
     1          746. Enforcement.
     2    §  742. Scope. 1. The following covered industries will be held to the
     3  standards in this article:
     4    (a) Agriculture;
     5    (b) Construction, unless the employer is party to  a:  (i)  collective
     6  bargaining  agreement  or  (ii) project labor agreement with a bona fide
     7  building and construction trades council;
     8    (c) Landscaping;
     9    (d) Car wash service;
    10    (e) Commercial shipping;
    11    (f) Food service, including food retail  workers  whose  jobs  require
    12  regular  outdoor  work,  or exposure to outside temperatures in back and
    13  storage rooms where deliveries are received;
    14    (g) Warehousing;
    15    (h) Transport service, including but not limited  to  airport  service
    16  work,  ramp,  cargo,  tarmac maintenance workers, and commuter rail line
    17  service; and
    18    (i) Building service work.
    19    2. For the purposes of this article, outdoor worksites of the  covered
    20  industries in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), and (h) of subdivision
    21  one  of  this section shall be subject to the provisions herein. For the
    22  purposes of this article, indoor worksites of the covered industries  in
    23  paragraphs  (e),  (f),  (g)  and  (i) of subdivision one of this section
    24  shall be subject to the provisions herein.
    25    § 743. Definitions. For the purposes of this  article,  the  following
    26  terms shall have the following meanings:
    27    1.  "Employee"  means  any  person within a covered industry providing
    28  labor or services for remuneration for a public  or  private  entity  or
    29  business  within  the  state,    without regard to an individual's immi-
    30  gration status, and shall include, but not be   limited to,    part-time
    31  workers,    workers classified as independent contractors, day laborers,
    32  agricultural workers and   other temporary   and seasonal  workers.  The
    33  term  shall  also  include  individuals  working  for staffing agencies,
    34  contractors or subcontractors on behalf of the employer at any  individ-
    35  ual  worksite, as  well  as  any individual delivering  goods  or trans-
    36  porting people at, to or from the worksite on behalf  of  the  employer,
    37  regardless  of whether  delivery  or transport  is conducted by an indi-
    38  vidual or entity that would otherwise be deemed an employer  under  this
    39  article,  or  any person holding a position by appointment or employment
    40  in the service of a public employer within the scope of this article.
    41    2. "Employer" means any individual, partnership,  association,  corpo-
    42  ration, limited liability company, business trust, legal representative,
    43  public  entity,  or  any  organized  group  acting  as employer within a
    44  covered industry identified in this article.
    45    3. "Indoor worksite" means any enclosed work vehicles  and  any  space
    46  between  a  floor  and  a  ceiling  bound  on all sides by walls. A wall
    47  includes any door, window, retractable divider, garage  door,  or  other
    48  physical  barriers  that  is  temporary  or  permanent,  whether open or
    49  closed.
    50    4. "Outdoor worksite" means all employers  with  employees  performing
    51  work  in an outdoor environment including work on a loading dock with an
    52  overhead covering and open sides. The term  outdoor  worksite  does  not
    53  apply  to incidental exposure, which exists when an employee is required
    54  to perform a work activity outdoors for not longer than fifteen  minutes
    55  in any sixty-minute period.

        S. 3412                             3
 
     1    5.  "Heat stress threshold" means a heat stress threshold of eighty or
     2  more degrees Fahrenheit.  For the purposes of indoor  temperature  regu-
     3  lated  environments,  the  indoor  temperature shall fall between sixty-
     4  eight and seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, to the extent practicable.
     5    6. "Heat illness" means a serious medical condition resulting from the
     6  body's  inability  to  cope with extreme heat temperature stress thresh-
     7  olds, and includes, but is not limited to, heat cramps, heat exhaustion,
     8  heat syncope, and heat stroke.
     9    7. "Personal  protective  equipment"  or  "PPE"  means  the  necessary
    10  protective equipment, gear, and uniforms to withstand extreme heat at or
    11  exceeding the heat stress thresholds.
    12    §  744.  Heat  protection  standards.   The employer shall fulfill the
    13  following requirements when employees are in an outdoor or indoor  work-
    14  site  and  experiencing conditions at or exceeding a heat stress thresh-
    15  old:
    16    1. Access to hydration. The employer shall provide access  to  potable
    17  drinking  water  at no cost to the employee.  The water shall be located
    18  as close as practicable to the areas where employees are working.  Water
    19  shall  be  provided  at  the  beginning of the work shift to provide one
    20  quart per employee per hour for drinking for the entire shift; provided,
    21  however, that an employer may begin the shift with smaller quantities of
    22  water where such employer has  effective  procedures  for  replenishment
    23  during the shift as needed to allow employees to drink one quart or more
    24  per hour.
    25    2.  Medical monitoring.   Employers shall closely monitor temperatures
    26  and implement their workplace heat stress plan. If an employee  exhibits
    27  signs  or  reports  symptoms of heat illness while taking a preventative
    28  break pursuant to subdivision four of this  section,  or  at  any  other
    29  time,  the employer shall make a reasonable effort to provide the worker
    30  with access to first aid or other treatment.
    31    3. Access to shade.  (a) With respect to outdoor sites, shade shall be
    32  made available while employees are present when the temperature  exceeds
    33  eighty  degrees  Fahrenheit  and  shall  be  as close to the worksite as
    34  reasonably possible. When the  outdoor  temperature  in  the  work  area
    35  exceeds  eighty degrees Fahrenheit, the employer shall have and maintain
    36  one or more areas with shade at all times while  employees  are  present
    37  that are either open to the air or provided with ventilation or cooling.
    38  The  amount of shade present shall be at least enough to accommodate the
    39  number of employees on preventative breaks, so that they can  sit  in  a
    40  normal  posture  fully  in  the shade with at least four square feet per
    41  resting employee.
    42    (b) Where the employer can demonstrate that it is infeasible or unsafe
    43  to have a shade structure, or otherwise  to  have  shade  present  on  a
    44  continuous  basis,  the  employer may utilize alternative procedures for
    45  providing access to shade if the alternative procedures  provide  equiv-
    46  alent protection.
    47    4.  Preventative breaks. (a) Employees shall be allowed and encouraged
    48  to take paid preventative breaks  when  they  feel  the  onset  of  heat
    49  illness. Employees shall notify their employer as soon as possible about
    50  such  onset and a preventative break shall be offered to such employees.
    51  Such preventative break may include access  to  shade.    An  individual
    52  employee who takes a preventative break:
    53    (i)  Shall be monitored and asked if they are experiencing symptoms of
    54  heat illness;
    55    (ii) Shall be encouraged to remain  in  the  shade,  where  applicable
    56  under subdivision three of this section; and

        S. 3412                             4
 
     1    (iii) Shall not be ordered back to work until any signs or symptoms of
     2  heat  illness  have  abated,  but in no event, less than five minutes in
     3  addition to the time needed to access shade where applicable.
     4    (b)  With  respect  to outdoor sites, where the temperature reaches or
     5  exceeds ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit, the  employer  shall  allow  and
     6  encourage  employees to take a minimum ten minute preventative cool-down
     7  rest period every two hours.
     8    5. Personal protective equipment. Employers shall provide  the  neces-
     9  sary  protective equipment, gear, and uniforms to withstand temperatures
    10  at or exceeding the heat stress thresholds to  the  extent  practicable.
    11  This may include, but is not limited to:
    12    (a) Fans, if possible;
    13    (b) Air-conditioning, which shall be mandated in all delivery vehicles
    14  and warehouses in an industry identified in this article; and
    15    (c)  Anything  additional deemed necessary by the department to combat
    16  extreme heat.
    17    6. Vehicle standards. Employees who spend more than sixty  minutes  in
    18  workplace  or  employer  provided vehicles each day or whose worksite is
    19  considered an employer provided vehicle shall have  adequate  air-condi-
    20  tioning  available  inside  such vehicle, provided however that agricul-
    21  tural machinery including tractors, seeders,  and  harvesting  equipment
    22  shall  be  exempt from this provision unless otherwise determined by the
    23  commissioner.
    24    § 745. Education and  training.  1.  Training.  The  department  shall
    25  create a training curriculum outlining the signs of heat illness and the
    26  available  medical responses. Such training shall be administered by the
    27  employer at time of hiring or the employee's training fund if  a  member
    28  of organized labor.
    29    2.  Mandated  signage  and  materials. The department shall promulgate
    30  signage and educational materials that are required to be made available
    31  to employees by their employer  in  the  twelve  most  common  languages
    32  spoken in the state regarding the following:
    33    (a) Signs of heat illness;
    34    (b) Heat stress thresholds;
    35    (c) Employer required protections from heat stress thresholds;
    36    (d)  Where  employees  can report an employer's lack of accommodation;
    37  and
    38    (e) Anything else deemed necessary by the department.
    39    3. Unlawful retaliation.   For the purposes  of  this  article,  there
    40  shall be a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employer
    41  in any manner discriminates, retaliates, or  takes  any  adverse  action
    42  against  any  employee  within  ninety days of the employee initiating a
    43  complaint pursuant to this article.
    44    4. Outreach campaign.   The department  shall  establish  a  statewide
    45  outreach  campaign  to  educate  employees on the heat illness standards
    46  established and ensure that employers are  providing  access  to  proper
    47  signage and materials.
    48    §  746.  Enforcement.  The department shall promulgate rules and regu-
    49  lations to require the following:
    50    1. Every employer in a covered industry shall establish, maintain, and
    51  preserve for three years contemporaneous, true, and accurate records  on
    52  all  heat-related  illnesses and fatalities which occur at an outdoor or
    53  indoor worksite to ensure  compliance  with  commissioner  requests  for
    54  data.
    55    2.  Every  employer in a covered industry shall develop a written plan
    56  on how heat-related stress will be mitigated. An employer shall  provide

        S. 3412                             5

     1  such  plan  to  all  employees  and applicable labor organizations on an
     2  annual basis.
     3    3.  Every  employer  in  a  covered  industry shall be required to pay
     4  penalties of no less than fifty dollars per day for failing to implement
     5  heat protection standards as set forth in this article.  The  department
     6  shall administer notice and collect all fines.
     7    4.  The department shall establish a worker hotline and an online form
     8  where employees can file complaints with the department  regarding  heat
     9  protection standards.
    10    5.  Any  other  reporting or enforcement protocols necessary to ensure
    11  the protection of workers.
    12    § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    13  have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
    14  repeal  of  any  rule or regulation  necessary for the implementation of
    15  this act on its effective date are authorized to be made  and  completed
    16  on or before such effective date.
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