IIPP Books and Heat Exposure

Sandy Hart

There was a proposed modification to California Code of Regulations Title 8, Chapter 4, Article 10, section 3395, for Heat Illness Prevention. Does anyone know if this has been settled yet? Is it madatory to include Heat Illness Prevention in your IIPP books?

hjones

Great question, Sandy. This is a topic I've been looking into recently.

The regulation you're referring to has not yet been passed; however, last August the state OSHSB adopted a very similar emergency regulation that was limited to 120 days, but has since been renewed twice and, thus, is currently in effect. This standard applies only to outdoor areas of employment and requires employers to provide one quart of drinking water per employee per hour, access to a shaded area for employees who need it, and training for all employees and supervisors on aspects of heat illness prevention and response.

The proposed permanent regulation would continue to apply only to workplaces in which employees have significant outdoor exposure and would have the same requirements noted above. It is anticipated that the proposed regulation will be acted upon sometime this month at the OSHSB meeting.

As far as IIPP documents are concerned, both the temporary standard and the proposed regulation note that it is permissive, not mandatory, for employers to include heat-illness measures in the IIPP.

Hope that helps!

Holly Jones
Attorney Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers, LLC