Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act of 2025
H.R. 4443, the Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act of 2025, would require the Secretary of Labor to establish a comprehensive worker heat protection standard to prevent heat-related illness, injury, and death. The bill envisions a standards-based approach under the Occupational Safety and Health Act framework, with an emphasis on the best available evidence and practices to minimize heat stress in the workplace. It mandates an interim final rule within one year of enactment to establish a baseline standard, followed by a formal rulemaking process for a final, potentially more stringent standard. The bill places strong emphasis on worker protection, training, recordkeeping, and enforcement, and it applies to employers across sectors where heat stress is a hazard, including outdoor agricultural and construction work as well as other high-heat environments. Key elements include specific employer duties to provide a safe workplace, core heat-protection practices (such as ready access to cool water, shade or cooling spaces, rest breaks, and acclimatization), and the possibility of additional measures (engineering controls, administrative controls, personal protective equipment, health protocols, and training). The act also requires pay for time spent on required protections, language-accessible training, updates to agricultural worker data to inform policy, whistleblower protections, and a robust rulemaking and enforcement framework with provisions for judicial review and consistency with existing OSHA processes.
Key Points
- 1Design and scope of standards: The Secretary must promulgate a worker heat protection standard based on the best available evidence, prioritizing worker safety, and may rely on state plans that are substantially equivalent and in effect for at least one year. The standard may include engineering controls, administrative controls, PPE, health protocols, training, planning, and core “reasonable program” requirements to prevent heat-related illness or injury.
- 2Core protections and requirements: The standard must include core practices such as access to cool drinking water, scheduled rest breaks, access to shade or cool-down spaces, acclimatization policies, and other measures necessary to keep heat exposure below hazardous levels. It also requires compensation at regular pay for required activities (like breaks and trainings) and language-accessible materials.
- 3Interim and final rulemaking process: Not later than one year after enactment, the Secretary must issue an interim final rule establishing a heat protection standard with recordkeeping and reporting, effective on issuance (subject to a reasonable delay). A later final rule would be issued through formal rulemaking, with petition procedures, timelines for proposed and final standards, and procedures for transparency and judicial review.
- 4Implementation, enforcement, and remedies: The standard has the same legal effect as other OSHA standards; enforcement includes a four-year statute of limitations for citations. Recordkeeping, whistleblower protections (with a process modeled after OSHA 11(c) protections), and the ability to seek relief in court are all provided. The Secretary may consolidate or align reporting with existing OSHA requirements, while enforcing this act as a distinct violation when appropriate.
- 5Oversight, reporting, and definitions: The act requires updating the National Agricultural Workers Survey to capture heat illness data and to report on implementation to Congress within a year. It provides defined terms for heat stress, heat-related illness, heat-related injury, the Institute (NIOSH), and other key concepts to guide rulemaking and enforcement.