On July 8, 2021, Oregon's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (Oregon OSHA) adopted emergency Heat Illness
Prevention rules to establish workplace heat safety requirements
that apply when temperatures in a work area reach or exceed 80
degrees Fahrenheit. The rules are effective immediately.
Oregon OSHA is in the middle of rulemaking activity for a
permanent heat standard which it initiated under direction from
Executive Order 20-04, issued on March 10, 2020. On July 6,
2021, Governor Kate Brown directed Oregon OSHA to issue these
emergency rules immediately after the state experienced
record-setting heat in June 2021. The permanent rulemaking is
ongoing, but these emergency rules will stay in effect until the
permanent rule is complete.
