With record spring heat impacting the eastern half of the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has taken significant additional steps to elevate workplace heat hazards to the forefront of its enforcement agenda. On April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a substantial update to OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) for Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards, which was originally issued in April 2022.

Unlike OSHA’s 2022 proposed and still pending heat illness standard,  the updated NEP is effective immediately and applies today to employers in high-risk industries nationwide. The revised NEP meaningfully expands OSHA’s inspection targeting, clarifies enforcement guidance, and sends a clear signal to employers that heat-related hazards, whether indoors or outdoors, are a top compliance priority for the agency.

What OSHA Has Done: Expansion of the National Emphasis Program on Heat Hazards

OSHA’s April 2026 action does not create new substantive regulations. Instead, it updates and strengthens the agency’s enforcement strategy under the existing Occupational Safety and Health Act. OSHA uses its General Duty Clause, which requires employers to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards that cause or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm, as the primary mechanism.

The revised National Emphasis Program — Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards –reflects OSHA’s review of injury, illness, and enforcement data from calendar years 2022 through 2025, allowing the agency to recalibrate where and how it deploys inspection resources.

Targeting 55 High-Risk Industries

Using OSHA and Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the revised NEP identifies 55 industries with perceived elevated risks of heat-related illness. These include industries with historically high rates of heat injuries, heat-related fatalities, or prior OSHA citations or hazard alert letters addressing heat exposure.

Examples of industries that OSHA has identified in the past as high-risk for heat-related hazards for workers include:

• Construction, including commercial, residential, highway, and heavy civil construction, where employees frequently perform strenuous physical labor outdoors during high-temperature conditions;
• Agriculture and landscaping, where prolonged outdoor exposure and peak-season work demands increase the risk of heat stress;
• Manufacturing, particularly facilities with heat-generating equipment such as foundries, metal fabrication shops, glass manufacturing, food processing plants, and commercial bakeries;
• Warehousing, distribution, and logistics operations, including large indoor facilities with limited climate control, high racking systems, and physically demanding material-handling tasks;
• Utilities and energy production, where employees may work near boilers, turbines, or in confined outdoor or indoor spaces during extreme heat conditions; and
• Transportation-related industries, including delivery services and highway maintenance operations, where employees may be exposed to heat both inside vehicles and during outdoor work activities.

The broad swath of industries reflects that the NEP applies not only to traditionally heat-exposed outdoor industries, such as construction and agriculture, but also to indoor environments where heat can accumulate due to production processes, building design, or limited ventilation. Employers should not assume that indoor operations are immune to OSHA scrutiny for heat-related hazards.

Expanded Scope of Heat-Triggered Inspections

OSHA compliance officers will continue to expand any inspection — regardless of its original purpose — when they observe evidence of heat-related hazards. OSHA will also conduct random, targeted inspections in high-risk industries on days when the National Weather Service issues heat advisories or warnings.

Structural Changes to the NEP

The revised NEP removes outdated background material, eliminates prior numerical inspection goals, and introduces reorganized appendices addressing heat program evaluation and citation guidance. OSHA intends the changes to improve consistency and enforcement effectiveness.

Employer Best Practices Under OSHA’s Heat Enforcement Program

Whether or not OSHA’s proposed heat standard is finalized, employers should prepare to implement practical and well-documented heat management strategies. In practice, this includes more than high-level policy statements and should be supported by specific operational measures tailored to the employer’s particular work environment.

For example, employers should consider developing a written heat illness prevention plan that is specific to each worksite or operational setting. Such plans may identify job tasks associated with elevated heat exposure, designate responsible supervisory personnel, describe procedures for responding to heat-related symptoms, and establish clear lines of communication during high-heat days.

Employers should also implement routine monitoring of heat conditions. Outdoor employers may track the local heat index and National Weather Service advisories, while indoor employers may periodically measure ambient air temperatures in production areas, loading docks, or mechanical spaces where heat accumulates. Maintaining written or electronic records of this monitoring can be helpful in demonstrating proactive compliance during an OSHA inspection.

Employers should evaluate and implement appropriate engineering and administrative controls where feasible. Examples include improving ventilation or air circulation, using temporary or permanent cooling equipment, rotating job assignments to limit continuous heat exposure, modifying work schedules to avoid peak heat periods, and increasing staffing levels to reduce the physical demands placed on individual employees.

Basic but consistently enforced practices, such as providing workers with easy access to cool drinking water, scheduling regular rest breaks, and establishing shaded or air-conditioned recovery areas, remain a central focus of OSHA’s heat enforcement efforts. Employers should ensure that these measures are not only available but actively encouraged, particularly during extreme heat conditions.

Finally, management training is critical. Supervisors and frontline employees should be trained to recognize the early warning signs of heat illness, understand escalation procedures, and respond promptly when symptoms are reported. OSHA often focuses inspection interviews on supervisory awareness and responsiveness, making supervisor training and accountability especially important from a risk-management perspective.

State-Specific Considerations for Virginia and Maryland Employers

Virginia does not currently have a standalone private-sector workplace heat illness prevention standard. However, employers remain subject to federal OSHA enforcement efforts under the General Duty Clause and the NEP.

Maryland has adopted a more proactive legislative approach to workplace heat illness prevention and employers operating in Maryland should remain attentive to state-specific requirements and guidance addressing occupational heat exposure.

Conclusion

OSHA’s newly revised National Emphasis Program makes clear that workplace heat hazards, both indoors and outdoors, remain a central enforcement priority. Employers that proactively assess heat-related risks, update policies, and train supervisors will be best positioned to manage OSHA’s compliance obligations and reduce enforcement exposure during high-heat conditions.

Bean, Kinney & Korman will be providing more updates regarding OSHA’s proposed workplace rules on heat injury and illness prevention. If you have questions about compliance with the NEP or your current worker policies and practices or would like additional information, please contact Tim Hughes at thughes@beankinney.com or (703) 526-5582.  Please reach out to Doug Taylor, on employment- and immigration-related issues at rdougtaylor@beankinney.com or (703) 526-5586.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not contain or convey legal advice. Consult a lawyer. Any views or opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily the views of any client.