California heat rules

Who do the California heat rules cover?

The rules cover California employers whose employees work in heat, and they are enforced by Cal/OSHA. Which standard applies depends on the work area. Section 3395 covers all outdoor places of employment, including lean-tos and structures with one or more open sides. Section 3396 covers indoor work areas, which Cal/OSHA describes generally as anywhere with a roof and enclosed sides.

• Outdoor: open-sided tents, stages, parking lots, fields and gates.
• Indoor: enclosed kitchens, warehouses, ballrooms and arena concourses that reach 82F.
• Not covered by 3396: incidental exposure, meaning 82F to under 95F for less than 15 minutes in any 60-minute period.

What does the outdoor rule (8 CCR 3395) require?

The outdoor standard sets duties in lettered subsections. Every outdoor employer must meet (c), (d) and (f) through (i). High-heat procedures in (e) start at 95F and are required for the industries listed in 3395(a)(2): agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, and transport or delivery of agricultural products, construction materials or other heavy materials.

• (c) Water: potable, free and close to the work; at least 1 quart per employee per hour, available from the start of the shift.
• (d) Shade and cool-down rest: shade present above 80F; a cool-down rest of at least 5 minutes on request, with the employee monitored and not ordered back until symptoms ease.
• (e) High-heat procedures at 95F: effective communication, observation by a supervisor or buddy system, a designated person to call emergency services, water reminders and pre-shift meetings.
• (f) to (i): emergency response, acclimatization, training, and a written plan in English and the language most employees understand.

What does the indoor rule (8 CCR 3396) require?

The indoor standard applies when an indoor work area reaches 82F while employees are present. At that point employers provide water, a cool-down area kept below 82F, cool-down rest, emergency response, acclimatization, training and a written plan. When the temperature or heat index reaches 87F, or 82F for staff in restrictive clothing or near high radiant heat, the employer must also measure and record conditions in the immediate work area and use control measures such as cooling, ventilation or schedule changes.

Is cool-down time paid? Recovery period pay under Labor Code 226.7

Labor Code 226.7 defines a recovery period as a cooldown period given to prevent heat illness. An employer may not require work during one, and the time counts as hours worked. If a required recovery period is not provided, the employer owes one additional hour of pay at the employee's regular rate for each workday it is missed, often called premium pay. The statute has been amended over time, so check the current text.

Who is responsible when a staffing agency places workers?

Often both. Cal/OSHA's heat pages do not address staffing agencies directly, so the general multi-employer rules apply. Under Labor Code 6400(b) and 8 CCR 336.10, Cal/OSHA can cite the exposing, creating, controlling and correcting employers at a multi-employer worksite. Labor Code 2810.3 adds that a client employer shares liability for a labor contractor's worker-safety failures and cannot shift its own safety duties to the contractor.Federal OSHA guidance for temporary workers takes the same shared view: the host employer usually runs the heat program on site, and the agency reviews the host's heat procedures before placing staff. This is federal guidance, not a Cal/OSHA rule.

How do the heat rules apply at festivals and stadium events?

Cal/OSHA has no event-specific heat rule; the general standards apply by work area. Gates, parking, open-sided bar tents, stages and load-in areas fall under 3395. Enclosed kitchens, back-of-house corridors and banquet halls fall under 3396 once they reach 82F. Crews whose work fits a listed industry, such as delivery of heavy materials, also follow the 95F high-heat procedures.

• A parked car or an unventilated metal container generally does not count as shade.
• Water needs to sit close to each post, not only at a central crew area.
• Vendor, bar and parking staff on long shifts in the sun need relief cover so they can take cool-down rest.