Public Health — News & Analysis

House Republicans Move to Kill OSHA Heat Standard (July 20, 2026)

WASHINGTON — In the middle of the hottest summer ever recorded, Republicans on the House Education and Workforce Committee scheduled a markup of H.R. 6213, a bill that would bar the Secretary of Labor from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing OSHA's proposed "Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings" standard, published in the Federal Register on August 30, 2024 — or any "substantially similar" standard.

The phrase "substantially similar" is left undefined in the bill, leaving unclear what a future administration could issue. Titled the "Heat Workforce Standards Act of 2025," the bill was introduced November 20, 2025 by Indiana Rep. Mark Messmer — co-owner of a family air conditioning business — and carries 59 co-sponsors, all Republicans, over half from the South. Its supporters include the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Restaurant Association, the Job Creators Network, and roughly two dozen other trade associations.

Messmer and Committee Chair Tim Walberg argue the rule would impose rigid "one-size-fits-all" federal thresholds regardless of industry or climate — a phrase repeated five times in Messmer's press release. Former OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab counters that the proposed rule is a flexible programmatic standard built on basic elements — water, shade, rest, acclimatization, training, and emergency response — and that employers already meeting those elements would largely be in compliance. He notes that OSHA's maximum penalty for a serious violation is $16,550 but that penalties average $4,678 federally and $2,720 under state plans, with reductions already required for small businesses and free consultation programs available in every state. Most heat-related illness and death occurs in the hottest states; Hispanic workers face the highest exposure, accounting for 23 of 55 reported U.S. heat-related deaths in 2023, and immigrants carry more than triple the risk of dying from heat-related illness. A competing measure, H.R. 4443, the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act of 2025, would require OSHA to issue an effective heat standard within one year and has 144 co-sponsors — more than twice as many as H.R. 6213 — but the committee has not taken it up.

H.R. 6213 bill text · H.R. 4443 bill text