Experts talk heat safety and a proposed federal heat standard for workplace protections

construction
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of all work-related heat deaths in the last few decades were construction workers. (Jasmine Robinson/WABE)

Climate experts predicted earlier this year that temperatures in Georgia could reach the hottest they’ve been in thirty years.

And on top of that, extreme heat is fueling wildfires.

There are wildfires burning in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires is reaching Atlanta, causing major air quality concerns.

On Monday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Rose talks first talks with Dr. Ishan Mehta, a pulmonologist and critical care doctor at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital.

Dr. Mehta discusses the impact of air pollution on vulnerable populations amid summer heat and shares information about what Georgians can do to prevent heat and smoke-related illnesses.

And as the nation feels record-breaking heat, workers in the U.S. are currently left without a federal heat standard for workplace protections. But newly introduced legislation could change that and force the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) into adopting an enforceable standard within a year.

For the second half of the show, Scott talks with Jordan Barab, a former deputy assistant secretary of labor at OSHA, about the protections a federal heat standard would provide if the proposed legislation becomes law.