Statutory heat rules for outdoor work: WBGT stop-work thresholds, midday bans and funded inspections
#00194
National, enforceable heat rules for outdoor work: rest, shade, water and scheduling duties anchored on wet-bulb globe temperature stop-work thresholds rather than clock hours alone, backed by funded inspection capacity. Time-of-day bans by themselves miss dangerous humid days.
United States
FailedUS Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), proposed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention rule · since 2024 · National
Documents the failure of the federal regulatory route to outdoor-worker heat protection in the United States. OSHA published a proposed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention rule (NPRM) in August 2024 and held public heari…
US federal budget (OSHA rulemaking) · 1 source
Spain
PartialGovernment of Spain (Royal Decree-law 4/2023), enforced through the labour inspectorate · since 2023 · National
Spain adopted Royal Decree-law 4/2023 following the heatstroke death of street sweeper Jose Antonio Gonzalez in Madrid in July 2022. The decree requires outdoor work to be adapted during extreme heat episodes and allows…
Spanish state budget (labour inspectorate)
Qatar
SuccessQatar Ministry of Labour, with the International Labour Organization; thresholds informed by FAME Lab field research · since 2021 · National
Qatar's 2021 Ministerial Decision, developed with the ILO after FAME Lab field research on worker heat strain, created a national outdoor-work heat regime combining a clock-hour ban (10:00–15:30, June 1–September 15) wi…
Government of Qatar, with ILO technical cooperation