What you need to know:  California’s indoor heat protections go into effect immediately and apply to most indoor workplaces. Employers are required to adopt safety measures that go into effect in most cases when indoor temperatures reach 82 degrees to prevent the risk of heat illness to workers.

California’s indoor heat worker protections were approved last week by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). This new regulation goes into effect immediately to protect indoor workers from heat illness. Cal/OSHA’s Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment Regulation applies to most indoor workplaces, such as restaurants, warehouses and manufacturing facilities. For indoor workplaces where the temperatures reaches 82 degrees, employers must take steps to protect workers from heat illness. Some of the requirements include providing water, rest, cool-down areas and training.

Additional requirements, where feasible, apply where the temperature reaches 87 degrees such as cooling down the work area, implementing work-rest schedules, and providing personal heat-protective equipment. Where workers wear clothing that restricts heat removal or work in high radiant heat areas, the additional requirements apply at 82 degrees. Employers may be covered under both the indoor and outdoor regulations if they have both indoor and outdoor workers. For more information, see the Comparison Chart of Indoor and Outdoor Heat Illness Prevention Standards.