As Temperatures Rise, OSHA Heat Enforcement Program Expires—Putting Georgia Workers at Greater Risk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 9, 2026
Contact: Sebastian Munoz, sebastian@surlegal.org

As Temperatures Rise, OSHA Heat Emphasis Program Expires—Putting Georgia Workers at Greater Risk
The end of OSHA’s Heat Hazard NEP removes a key proactive enforcement framework leaving Georgia workers at greater risk of injury or death heading into the summer.

Atlanta, GA — As temperatures rise across Georgia, Sur Legal Collaborative warns that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards expired on April 8, 2026, removing a crucial federal framework that supported proactive heat enforcement in workplaces at high risk for heat-related illness, injury, and death.

The expiration is especially consequential in Georgia, where there are currently no state or local laws regulating occupational heat exposure and requiring baseline safeguards—such as water, rest, shade/cooling, acclimatization, and training—for workers in sectors like construction, agriculture, warehouses, delivery and logistics, landscaping, and manufacturing. With the NEP ending before a federal heat standard is in place, Georgia workers may face less proactive oversight and fewer targeted inspections during the most dangerous months of the year.

Despite the risks extreme heat poses to workers being recognized by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) since 1972, OSHA has still not adopted a comprehensive federal standard to protect workers from the hazards of occupational heat exposure.  In the absence of a specific federal heat standard, OSHA has largely relied on the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s General Duty Clause, which requires employers to provide a workplace “free from recognized hazards” likely to cause serious harm or death. But the General Duty Clause is not a heat-specific rule: it does not set clear triggers (like heat index thresholds), does not spell out required protections (such as scheduled rest breaks, acclimatization plans, or cooling measures), and is typically enforced through case-by-case investigations that can be difficult to prove and often occur only after workers have already suffered heat illness. 

The Heat NEP,  launched in 2022, helped bridge that gap by creating a proactive, targeted enforcement framework—prioritizing inspections in high-risk industries on heat priority days, and putting heat hazards on OSHA’s enforcement agenda even when no injury had yet been reported. With the NEP expiring and no federal heat standard in place, enforcement in Georgia is likely to fall back to responding to complaints and incident reports, weakening industry oversight and limiting OSHA’s ability to prevent heat harm before it happens -leaving workers at higher risk.

“Workers should never have to face the choice between earning a paycheck and risking their lives in the face of extreme heat. Yet we know that although hazards posed by occupational heat exposure have been recognized for over 50 years, workers continue to lose their lives.” said Alessandra Stevens, Staff Attorney at Sur Legal Collaborative. 

Heat is the leading cause of death among all weather-related hazards in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service. Heat-related worker deaths in Georgia underscore the urgency. According to BLS occupational fatality data for Georgia (2020–2024), 116 workers died from heat stress and exposure to extreme temperatures over the past five years (2020: 21; 2021: 31; 2022: 20; 2023: 27; 2024: 17). Experts caution that even these fatality figures likely undercount the true toll of extreme heat, because heat can contribute to deaths that are recorded under other causes (such as cardiac events or falls) and because heat illness is often missed or misclassified. The problem is even more pronounced for nonfatal harm: OSHA has warned that heat-related illnesses and injuries are widely underreported due to inconsistent diagnosis, reporting barriers, and the way symptoms manifest differently across industries and worker populations.

“These are not abstract numbers—they reflect families and communities permanently harmed by a hazard we know how to prevent,” Stevens said. “These injuries and deaths are all the more tragic because they are easily preventable. Basic steps such as providing water, shade rest, acclimatization, and training are proven to reduce the risks posed by extreme heat, but without a standard, even these things are not guaranteed to workers.” 

Data from states with enforceable heat standards demonstrate that protections save lives. In California, enforcement of a heat safety rule reduced workplace heat-related deaths by 33 percent. Oregon has also seen significant reductions in heat-related illness after implementing its standard. These examples highlight the consequences of strong enforcement and the risks of allowing federal protections to lapse.

With the NEP expiring, even that targeted enforcement structure lapses—leaving Georgia workers with fewer protections and fewer avenues for proactive intervention heading into the summer of extreme heat.

These inequities are especially pronounced for working-class communities of color and immigrant workers—often concentrated in high-hazard, low-wage industries—and in today’s climate of intensified immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation, many workers from mixed-status families experience an understandable fear that speaking up about dangerous conditions could trigger retaliation or even immigration consequences.  For immigrant workers who are often the least protected and most exposed to the burdens of occupational heat exposure, standing up to employers is uniquely risky. With OSHA stepping back from inspections and enforcement, the onus is placed on workers to advocate for their own health if their employers are placing them in dangerous situations. 

The expiration of the NEP raises urgent questions about how OSHA will protect workers during the coming months. Without a clear enforcement strategy, there is less oversight, fewer inspections, and a greater risk of preventable injury, illness, and death at the height of heat season.

Call to Action

Sur Legal Collaborative urges OSHA to:

• Immediately clarify its heat enforcement strategy after the NEP expires, including how it will ensure robust protections for both indoor and outdoor workers; and

• Move swiftly to adopt a strong, comprehensive, and enforceable federal heat standard to prevent occupational heat injuries and illnesses nationwide—especially in states like Georgia that lack any heat safety law.

We demand a strong, comprehensive, enforceable federal standard for preventing occupational heat injuries and illnesses in both indoor and outdoor settings to save workers’ lives.