White House Announces New Actions to Protect Workers from Extreme Heat

If there’s one headline that sums up summer 2023, it’s this one, from Scientific American: July 2023 Is Hottest Month Ever Recorded on Earth. 

Perhaps you’re in an air-conditioned office most of the time and the heat is more nuisance than a nightmare. 

But for many of America’s construction workers, the extreme heat is not only unbearable, it’s down right dangerous.

A deadly threat

Since 2011, more than 400 workers have died due to environmental heat exposure, and thousands more are hospitalized every year.

In response, President Biden has announced new measures to protect workers and communities across the country from the impacts of extreme heat.

Here are three actions the administration is taking. 

1. President Biden has asked the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue the first-ever Hazard Alert for heat, and DOL will also ramp up enforcement to protect workers from extreme heat.
2. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is investing up to $7 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to improve our nation’s weather forecasts.
3. The Department of the Interior is investing $152 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand water storage and enhance climate resilience in California, Colorado, and Washington.

For more information on the President's plan, see the White House Press briefing here.