Maryland Joins Growing Number of States Issuing Heat Illness Prevention Standards
Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) issued the final version of its Heat Stress Standards, which became effective on September 30, 2024 , becoming the f i rst state on the East Coast to adopt a heat standard and joining others such as California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington in doing so. The standards take a sweeping approach to regulating heat injury and illness issues, requiring employers to develop heat-related illness prevention and management plans, monitor temperatures at worksites, train employees, and implement other measures such as breaks and acclimatization programs. MOSH’s new heat standards apply to all “employer[s] with employees whose employment activities, indoor or outdoor, e xpose employees to a heat index in the area where the employee is working that equals or exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit. ” This effectively covers anybody working outside in the summer as well as many indoor places of employment without air cond...