A proposal moving through the General Assembly would prompt the state’s first regulations on protecting workers from heat stress.
Companion bills from Del. Phil Hernandez, D-Norfolk, and Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, direct Virginia officials to draft rules mandating employers keep people safe in hot working conditions.
“People understand how punishingly hot it is in Virginia. You can probably imagine what it's like to be a roofer in July or August, or repaving a street as a VDOT worker,” Hernandez said. “It can be incredibly dangerous and I think people are genuinely surprised to learn that there's nothing on the books right now.”
Extreme heat, which is rising because of climate change, is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S. and workers are among the most vulnerable.
Recent research, using data from the national Occupational Safety and Health Administration, found that about 28,000 work injuries each year are linked to heat exposure.
Those often happen in industries with substantial outdoor work, such as agriculture and construction, but also inside facilities, including warehouses and manufacturing plants.
Virginia has more than 1.2 million workers in industries with high heat risk, according to the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.
Seven states have created heat safety standards in the past few years, including Maryland and the entire West Coast.
Hernandez’s bill would apply to people working in heat indoors and outdoors, requiring employers to provide people with shade, water and rest.
Heat-related illness refers to a range of issues that happen when the body is overheated and can’t properly cool itself. It's often underreported because heat stress can exacerbate underlying conditions and isn’t always identifiable as the cause.
Symptoms can be mild, such as muscle cramps or heat rash. In other cases, high temperatures cause severe dehydration, heat stroke and become life-threatening.
In Virginia, more than 4,000 people visited emergency rooms or urgent care for heat-related illness last year, according to the state health department, about 25% more than the average over the past decade.
June last year set the record for the month with the most emergency medical visits since the state began tracking them in 2015. A heat wave that month came unusually early in the season.
In 2024, the state had seven work-related fatalities attributed to heat stress, Hernandez said.
His proposal would allow workers to seek legal relief, including $1,000 in damages, if their employers violate the new rules.
Employers “have the greatest interest of anyone in keeping their workers safe,” Hernandez said.
He wants to create basic, uniform standards to avoid people “falling through the cracks” and ending up in the hospital.
If Virginia’s legislation is approved and signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, the state will develop and implement heat safety regulations by May 2027.
