Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act of 2025
The Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act of 2025 would require the Secretary of Labor to establish a comprehensive national heat protection standard under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). The bill sets out broad duties for employers to provide a safe work environment free from dangerous heat conditions and to comply with the new standard. It directs the Secretary to design a robust framework—grounded in the best available evidence—that includes core protections (hydration, rest breaks, shade, acclimatization) and the option for additional measures (engineering controls, administrative controls, personal protective equipment, medical protocols, and training). An initial interim final rule would be issued within one year of enactment and would remain in effect until superseded by a final rule. The act also includes enforcement, recordkeeping, whistleblower protections, accessibility of materials in multiple languages, and a requirement to update data on heat illness through the National Agricultural Workers Survey. In short, the bill would federally mandate heat-related protections for workers, prescribe a structured path for rulemaking and enforcement, and emphasize protections for workers in hot environments (including agricultural and outdoor labor), with specific provisions to ensure pay, language access, and written planning.
Key Points
- 1Establishes a national worker heat protection standard to regulate exposure to heat stress and prevent heat-related illness/injury, aiming for the highest feasible level of protection using the best available evidence.
- 2Employer duties: provide a safe workplace free from heat-related harm and comply with the new standard, including required protections and planning.
- 3Core and optional protections: required core practices (hydration, paid rest breaks, shade/cool-down spaces, acclimatization) plus optional but permissible measures such as engineering controls, administrative controls, personal protective equipment, health protocols, training, and a written heat illness/injury prevention plan.
- 4Interim and final rulemaking process: an interim final rule must be issued within 1 year (effective upon issuance, with possible delay) and remain in effect until a final rule is promulgated; the rulemaking includes petitions, timelines, transparency requirements, and a defined path for judicial review.
- 5Enforcement, recordkeeping, and whistleblower protections: the standard has OSHA-like effect; there are explicit enforcement timelines, recordkeeping authority, and whistleblower protections modeled on existing OSHA provisions to shield workers who report heat-related issues.