A construction worker drinks water in temperatures that have reached well above triple digits in Palm Springs, California. Reuters

President Joe Biden’s administration is advancing a first-of-its-kind proposal to safeguard indoor and outdoor workers from the perils of extreme heat as the United States swelters under record-breaking temperatures this summer.

But it will still likely take years to enact a federal rule that could be undone with the stroke of a pen should Donald Trump win the White House – or by a US Supreme Court that just dealt a major blow to the federal government’s regulatory authorities. For the moment, workers are left at the mercy of employers, or the handful of states that have taken their own steps on the matter. “Even in … a wildly optimistic, best-case scenario, it’s still a couple years until this federal heat standard would take effect,” said Terri Gerstein, director of the Labour Initiative at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. In the meantime, a handful of states have moved forward with their own heat protection rules, while other states like Texas and Florida have blocked localities from setting standards on essentials like access to water and rest breaks that the new federal rule would address, according to a Reuters report. Florida’s new law barring local governments from setting their own heat protection kicked in this month, as the heat index was forecast to top 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) in some spots in the Sunshine State. The heat index measures what the temperature feels like to the human body. “We have a long road to travel,” said Juanita Constible, an expert in heat and labour at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defence Council. The draft proposal from the Labour Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), unveiled this month, would implement control measures when the heat index hits 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7 degrees Celsius) that include requirements to provide employees with cool drinking water and paid rest breaks if needed. The proposal provides additional measures at 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) like mandatory rest breaks of 15 minutes at least every two hours. “Obviously we’ll see some changes before the final (rule) and then enforcement will be a pretty key part of the picture,” Constible said.

“It’s clear that OSHA has been paying really close attention to what workers have been saying they need.”

In the wake of the deadly “heat dome” that saw crippling record temperatures in the Pacific Northwest in 2021, Biden initially announced his intention to put forward a rule in September 2021. Biden announced this week he would not seek re-election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee. “Because of climate change, heat has risen to the top of the agenda,” said Jordan Barab, a former senior OSHA official during the Obama administration. Former President Trump has previously questioned the role humans play in rising global temperatures, and the 2024 Republican Party platform calls for ending “market-distorting restrictions on oil, natural gas, and coal.”

Asked about plans for the heat rule should Trump get elected, his campaign did not answer directly, with a spokesperson instead criticising the “failed Harris-Biden economic agenda” while touting Trump’s record of “delivering pro-growth economic policies that put money back in the pockets of working families.”

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) told the Thomson Reuters Foundation this month that the construction industry faces unique challenges because the nature of its jobs changes daily, if not hourly. Another wild card is the Supreme Court, which last month dealt a major blow to the authority federal agencies enjoyed in crafting and developing their own rules.Regulators can monitor and crack down on heat-related issues under a “general duty” clause, which allows OSHA to enforce basic safety in workplaces, but in practice cases can be difficult to prove and enforcement is spotty.