Nevada OSHA to Begin Enforcing Heat Illness Prevention Regulation on April 29, 2025

The Nevada Division of Industrial Relations (DIR), the principal regulatory agency responsible for workplace safety in Nevada, will begin enforcement of a recently adopted heat illness prevention regulation on April 29, 2025.  Enforcement of the newly implemented regulation follows DIR’s issuance of Guidance for Heat Illness Prevention on January 29, 2025.  The following heat illness prevention requirements apply to all Nevada employers with 10 or more employees.

Rule Coverage and General Requirements

Covered employers must complete a job hazard analysis (JHA) and, depending on the results of the analysis, adopt a written Heat Illness Prevention Plan (HIIP), implement emergency response procedures, monitor affected employees, and train employees to recognize, and minimize, heat illness hazards. 

The regulation applies to both indoor and outdoor settings, however, employers with climate-controlled indoor working environments are not required to perform a JHA, create a HIIP in their written safety program, or train employees on exposure to heat illness. That said, in the event of an outage of climate control, such employers must make a good-faith effort to reestablish effective climate control as soon practicable. 

Job Hazard Analysis

The JHA must include (1) a list of all job classifications in which the majority of employees are exposed to potential heat illness for more than 30 minutes in any 60-minute period and (2) a list of all tasks and procedures in which occupational exposure to heat illness may occur and which are performed by employees who are exposed to potential heat illness for more than 30 minutes in any 60-minute period. In assessing the risk of exposure to occupational heat illness, employers should consider the air temperature, relative humidity, radiant heat, conductive heat, air movement and circulation, severity and duration of workloads, and protective clothing worn by employees.

The JHA should also include measures to mitigate or eliminate the identified heat illness hazard, whether it be through engineering controls, administrative controls, and/or personal protective equipment.  The DIR also encourages employers to adopt acclimatization protocols for new or returning workers.

Employers need only conduct a JHA once.  However, employers must review the JHA after an accident or when the required tasks for a covered position materially change to create a reasonable likelihood that heat illness could occur.   

Written Safety Program 

Where there is heat illness exposure to employees, an employer must (1) designate an authorized person to coordinate emergency medical services for employees and (2) address potentially hazardous working conditions that may cause heat illness in the employer’s written safety program. 

The employer’s written safety program must include the following:

• Provision of potable water;
• Provision of a rest break for an employee exhibiting signs or symptoms of heat illness;
• Provision of means of cooling for employees;
• Monitoring of employees for occupational exposure to heat illness, unless the employee is loading or unloading a motor vehicle that operates on public highways;
• Identification and mitigation of any work processes that may generate additional heat or humidity;
• Training of employees as necessary to reasonably mitigate the risk of occupational exposure to heat illness; and
• Procedures for responding to a medical emergency. 

An employer’s heat illness prevention plan should be contained in a distinctly separate chapter of its written safety program with a title such as “Heat Illness Prevention Plan.” 

Emergency Response Procedures

Employers must designate an employee to carry out certain emergency response functions, based on the JHA, in the event that an employee is exposed to heat illness.  The designated employee must perform the following functions when an employee is experiencing signs or symptoms of heat illness:

• Monitor the employee to determine whether medical attention is necessary;
• Contact emergency medical services or ensure that emergency medical services are contacted; and
• Provide all information necessary to enable a medical-services provider to reach the employee as promptly as possible or, if necessary, transfer the employee to a location where a medical-services provider is able to reach the employee. 

In addition, the designated employee must monitor working conditions that could create exposure to heat illness and carry out the provisions of the written safety program that address occupational exposure to heat illness. 

Training

Employers must provide training to all employees identified in the JHA on the following topics:

• How to recognize the hazards of heat illness; and
• The procedures to be followed to minimize the hazards of heat illness.

Employers should work with counsel in developing a compliant heat illness prevention program for Nevada or a compliant multi-state heat illness plan, if applicable.