Protecting Georgia’s Workers From Extreme Heat
On a summer afternoon in Georgia, the heat index can climb well past 100 degrees. During the late June 2025 heat dome that covered much of the South, Georgia’s Northside Hospital system saw heat illness cases rise 20 percent across its five hospitals. One patient was an outdoor worker who arrived at the hospital unconscious with a body temperature of 104 degrees and later died. Extreme heat is a daily threat to the health of many workers in Georgia, and Georgia law does almost nothing to address it.
Georgia has no state-level laws on workers and heat. Instead, the state relies on the General Duty Clause of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This clause mandates that employers keep workplaces free of recognized hazards. However, it sets no temperature limits and does not require employers to provide water, shade or rest breaks. In August 2024, OSHA proposed a national heat rule, but it currently remains in post-hearing review with no timeline. Only seven states have their own heat regulations, and Georgia is not among them.
Georgia’s workers’ compensation system offers little comfort for affected workers. While it covers heat stroke and dehydration, coverage starts only after a worker has fallen ill, suffered organ damage or died. Heat illness ranges from cramps and exhaustion to heat stroke, which can destroy organs and kill workers. The current system only provides reactive financial compensation for medical bills and lost wages after a severe injury occurs, but it should be expanded to mandate preventative workplace measures like guaranteed rest breaks, portable water, and shade access to stop these illnesses before they happen.
The true toll of the current lack of protection for workers is unclear. An NPR investigation found at least 384 worker heat deaths from 2010 to 2020, but OSHA’s record keeping is too poor to give an exact count. Additionally, because OSHA relies on companies to report worker fatalities, the known death tally is widely considered to be a vast undercount.
Workplace injuries not resulting in deaths are also linked to rising heat. A Harvard University and George Washington University study found that about 28,000 U.S. workplace injuries each year are linked to hot weather. The same study found that injury risk begins rising at a heat index of 85 degrees and climbs sharply after 90 degrees. The Workers Compensation Research Institute found that heat illnesses are 11 to 18 times more frequent above 95 degrees than at 75 to 80 degrees. Heat also dulls judgment and perception, which can lead to accidents such as being struck by machinery.
Some business groups argue that workers are acclimated to the heat, but the evidence contradicts this. According to OSHA guidance, nearly half of heat-related worker deaths occur on the first day on the job or on a worker’s first day back after an extended absence, and more than 70 percent occur within the first week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than a third of work-related heat deaths in recent decades were construction workers, while a 2022 study found that heat-related mortality is 35 times higher among agricultural workers compared to workers from other industries. With 228,367 construction workers and 44,537 hired farmworkers, heat protections are a significant concern for Georgia’s workforce.
However, the risk reaches beyond farms and construction sites. Before the FIFA World Cup matches in Atlanta, University of Georgia researchers studied 30 years of weather data and found that many event jobs exceeded recommended heat limits. Factory and warehouse workers face similar danger indoors, where heat from machinery and limited air movement can push temperatures to unsafe levels.
Other states demonstrate that heat standards are effective. California adopted its heat standard in 2005 after several farmworkers died. The standard requires water, shade, rest breaks, acclimatization plans and emergency procedures. A WCRI study found that, among workers 35 and younger, injuries on hot days fell 18 percent in construction and 27 percent in agriculture following the standard’s implementation. In 2024, Nevada also adopted a workplace heat safety regulation and now requires that employers complete a hazard analysis and written safety program, along with implementing emergency procedures and employee training. Importantly, Nevada’s regulation lets each employer design its own plan tailored to its operation in order to meet the needs of diverse industries. This flexibility is crucial because the standard applies to vastly different jobs, from bakers to car dealers to construction workers.
Georgia has seen efforts to address workplace heat injuries with the Georgia Workplace Safety and Heat Protection Act, which would require employers to adopt heat illness prevention programs, with water, shaded rest areas, mandatory breaks and training. These changes would be phased in by 2027 or 2028, depending on business size, and a grant program would help rural employers. The bill was introduced Jan. 28, 2026 but died in the House. Nonetheless, Georgia should continue to pursue this and follow the seven states that have already adopted heat standards before rising temperatures put even more workers at risk.