Nevada adopts new extreme heat protections for workers

Months after Southern Nevada broke last year’s record for the hottest summer on record, the Nevada Division of Industrial Relations has officially adopted a new regulation to protect workers from extreme heat. 

New workplace protections against extreme heat were adopted by the Nevada Division of Industrial Relations and will go into effect immediately, the agency announced Wednesday. 

A new regulation is intended to mitigate heat-related illness on the job, and provides flexibility for employers to evaluate workplace hazards associated with heat to develop and implement a plan specific to that business’ needs, division administrator Victoria Carreon said in a statement. 

“Approval of this regulation is a critical step to reduce the health risks of heat exposure for Nevada workers in indoor and outdoor settings,” she said. “This regulation is the culmination of four years of discussion and engagement with various stakeholders to develop a framework that works for Nevada’s workers and employers.” 

The new rule requires businesses with more than 10 employees to soon be required to perform a one-time job hazard analysis of working conditions that could lead to heat illness, though the analysis will only apply to job classifications where a majority of employees could be exposed to heat illness for more than 30 minutes of any given 60-minute period throughout the workday. 

Employers that report an elevated risk of heat illness will then be required to provide a written plan that will accommodate to employees: 

• Potable water.
• Rest breaks when an employee begins to show symptoms of heat illness.
• Measures for cooling down employees.
• Designating a crewmember to monitor working conditions that could lead to heat illness.
• Training to mitigate work processes that expose employees to additional heat or humidity, as well as how to respond if an employee is experiencing a health emergency. 

The regulation will not apply to employees who work indoors in climate-controlled environments, which includes motor vehicles with a properly-functioning climate control system, according to the release. If a climate control system breaks down, the employer must make a “good faith effort” to re-establish climate control systems when practical, and employers must implement heat mitigation practices until climate control is restored. 

The rule also allows employers to exceed the new requirements on their own or through collective bargaining in a union, though any policy cannot waive or reduce the new policy. Enforcement of the new rule will begin 90 days once guidance is posted by Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar’s office. 

This summer was the hottest on record in Las Vegas, according to the National Weather Service, with the average high temperature reaching 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Southern Nevada also set records for the most consecutive days above 115 degrees (seven), and set an all-time heat record at 120 degrees in July. 

Advocates in recent years have urged policymakers at both the federal and state level to take action. State legislators in 2023 heard a bill that sought to impose mandatory shade and water breaks during bouts of extreme heat, but that legislation failed to make it to Gov. Joe Lombardo’s desk. 

The Nevada Occupational Health and Safety Administration this year alone has received approximately 467 complaints relating to extreme heat as of September — an increase over the previous record of 244 set in 2021, according to the agency. 

Approximately 264 people have died in Clark County this year due to extreme heat, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.