Workplaces provide insufficient training and resources to help workers recognize and adapt to extreme heat

Workplaces often don't provide heat-related training and amenities (shade structures, water, air conditioning, etc.), largely out of efficiency & cost concerns

Context and anecdotes about costs involved:

"Business groups are opposed to a national standard, saying it would be too expensive because it would likely require rest, water and shade breaks and possibly the installation of air-conditioning...

Many factories were built decades ago for a different climate and are not air-conditioned. A study on the effects of extreme temperatures on the productivity of auto plants in the United States found that a week with six or more days of heat exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit cuts production by an average of 8 percent.

In Tulsa, Okla., Navistar is installing a $19 million air-conditioning system at its IC Bus factory, which produces many of America’s school buses. Temperatures on the floor can reach 99 degrees F. Currently, the plant is only cooled by overhead fans that swirl high above the assembly line.

Shane Anderson, the company’s interim manager, said air-conditioning is expected to cost about $183 per hour, or between $275,000 and $500,000 per year — but the company believes it will boost worker productivity.¹

1. Increase worker awareness of extreme heat signs and risks
2. Increase worker’s ability to advocate for safer heat environments
3. Develop federal heat protection standards. (Some exist at the state and local level, but not universally)
4. Support interventions (prizes, early-stage research, advanced market commitments, etc.) that drive cooling technologies down the cost curve to make them more accessible to businesses. Solutions that can be retrofit to existing structures are especially helpful.