Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment (SRIA) of the Proposed California Regulation for Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment

Heat stress poses a serious threat to employees working in extreme heat conditions. Occupational exposure to heat can result in reduced productivity, illness, injury, permanent disability, vital organ damage, and death. Each year approximately 1,000 California workers submit workers' compensation claims for heat-related illnesses from occupational heat exposure. In 2005, California became the first state to pass a heat illness prevention standard. However, this standard does not apply to indoor places of employment. In September 2016, the California state legislature passed, and the governor signed, Senate Bill 1167, which required the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) to propose a standard that minimizes heat-related illness and injury among workers in indoor places of employment.

This report is a standardized regulatory impact assessment (SRIA) for the California Department of Industrial Relations' proposed regulation for heat illness prevention in indoor places of employment. A SRIA provides a macroeconomic analysis intended to evaluate the economic impact of a proposed regulatory action on California businesses and individuals by quantifying and monetizing the costs and benefits associated with the action as well as by analyzing how implementation of the regulation would impact the broader economic environment. Under the assumptions presented in this SRIA, the anticipated benefits of the proposed regulation, primarily improvements in worker health and productivity, exceed the anticipated costs.