President Joe Biden on Thursday announced actions his administration it taking to try to protect workers and communities affected by extreme heat as millions of Americans experience prolonged periods of record-high temperatures.
Biden has directed the Department of Labor to increase the enforcement of heat-safety violations and inspections in high-risk workplaces, such as construction and agriculture sites. There have been more than 400 work-related deaths caused by heat exposure since 2011, and thousands more are hospitalized every year, the White House said, citing federal statistics.
The Labor Department will also issue a hazard alert to tell employers what they should do to protect workers, help ensure employees are aware of their rights, such as protections against retaliation, and highlight steps that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has in place to try to ensure worker safety, the White House said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is set to invest up to $7 million to improve weather forecasts to allow communities to better prepare for extreme weather, the White House said.
The Department of the Interior is also investing $152 million to expand water storage and improve climate resilience in California, Colorado and Washington.
The actions come as OSHA continues to develop national standards for heat safety in the workplace.
Biden on Thursday also heard from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, whose communities have experienced lengthy bouts of triple-digit temperatures recently.
The administration’s latest steps are aimed at building upon measures the administration has taken to address climate change, the White House said.
“Climate change is real,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing Wednesday. “That’s why the president has taken some historic actions to deal with this issue, to deal with climate change — a crisis that he called when he first walked into this administration.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
