Worker-led Victory for a Just and Climate-Safe Economy
Celebrating two key California policy wins for worker health and safety
By Elana Muldavin
California labor and climate justice advocates and workers recently secured two important policy wins to support workers’ health and safety, and HIP is proud to have played a small part.
In June, Cal/OSHA, the California agency responsible for worker safety, adopted two policies recommended in our new report, Turning up the Heat: Climate Change, California Worker Health, and Ensuring Good Jobs in a Climate-Safe Economy. Conducted with support from the California Labor for Climate Jobs (CLCJ) coalition, it explores how climate change and transition affects the health of California’s workers and communities, recommending nearly 40 policy actions to promote a healthy future for all.
Just days after the report was released, we saw a direct impact. At their June 20, 2024 Standards Board meeting, Cal/OSHA approved two policy changes that align with our findings: the long-awaited indoor heat standard and a petition to close a refinery safety loophole. These policies address critical issues compounded by climate crisis that affect workers across California.
At HIP, we do research for action. We’re guided by a strong ethic that all research should benefit communities and support our organizing partners’ work to win policy change. Turning Up the Heat is grounded in this commitment — and this victory is a powerful reminder that public health research, when combined with policy advocacy and worker-led organizing, can truly pave the way toward a just and climate-safe transition.
Improved Indoor Heat Standard
Cal/OSHA’s indoor heat standard, requiring employers to mitigate risks of extreme heat to indoor workers, had been stymied for over five years by blocks and delays — the health consequences of which are detailed in Turning Up the Heat. Cal/OSHA finally adopted the rule at their June meeting.
During the meeting, some of our partners from the California Labor for Climate Jobs (CLCJ) shared public comments that drew directly from our findings. They highlighted the stories of California workers like Allison, a childcare provider who has faced power outages that create unsafe indoor temperatures; Eusebio, a custodian who walks miles per day in buildings with broken elevators, leading to profuse sweat and headaches; Hilda, who works at a food packing facility where indoor temperatures reach 120 degrees; and Querida, a food packing worker who shared the following quote, which was read verbatim to Cal/OSHA Standards Board members:
From the time I arrive at work at 7:30 until the time I leave at 4:30, 5:00, or 6:00 I sweat, sweat, and sweat. And it’s the headache, I feel so horribly desperate that I once even felt like running out of there. … Sometimes when it’s really hot, I leave work with a headache and horrible stress, because it’s too much, the heat is too much. I feel the stress in my back and neck.
CLCJ advocates situated workers’ experiences within the wider context of indoor heat hazards — including the fact that only 15% of California schools meet industry standards for annual facilities spending and school heat remains pervasive, and that experiences similar to Hilda and Querida’s have been documented at Rite Aid and Amazon warehouses in California’s Inland Empire.
Closing the Refinery Safety Loophole
Cal/OSHA also considered a petition to close a loophole that exempts refineries that process renewables from certain safety processes. Our research found that while closing refineries or transitioning oil and gas to renewables can mitigate harms associated with fossil fuel combustion, transition without proper oversight presents its own health risks. As Dave, one of our interviewees, pointed out, refinery employers have been known to trade worker safety for reduced costs. Indeed, cost-cutting moves were a factor in past refinery explosions in Texas City and Philadelphia.
Cal/OSHA Adopts Key Worker Safety Measures
After public comment, Cal/OSHA Standards Board members voted unanimously to adopt the new indoor heat standards, and to close the refinery safety loophole. These are incredible wins that countless workers and advocates across California have fought long and hard for. We honor the leadership of workers who are fighting for a just and equitable transition and we are honored to have played a small part.
Challenges Ahead: Strengthening Protections for Worker Health and Safety
While we are heartened by this policy progress, we recognize that much work remains. The new heat rule, for example, exempts prisons — where extreme heat can be deadly — and doesn’t require employer action until temperatures reach 82 degrees, despite evidence of risk of heat illness at temperatures as low as 65 degrees when coupled with heavy workloads. Moreover, Cal/OSHA faces a chronic understaffing crisis that casts serious doubt on their ability to enforce these policies.
Turning Up the Heat offers a comprehensive strategy to better support workers’ health in the face of climate change and transition.
Our recommendations include:
- Continuing to strengthen California’s climate hazard protections and enforcement mechanisms
- Promoting fair labor practices, supporting local economies, and advancing workforce development goals in emerging industries
- Addressing the challenges faced by displaced workers in declining industries, supporting workforce transition to good jobs, and mitigating the economic impacts of declining oil and gas revenues on local communities
- Strengthening the public sector workforce to protect public health from climate change
We are committed to continuing this work and supporting our partners to advance a worker-led transition to a healthy, just, and climate-safe economy.
Elana Muldavin is a Research Project Director at HIP, where she advances economic security through collaborative, community-centered research. Elana believes that policy advocacy, community organizing, and participatory research are powerful tools in service of health and racial equity.
