Hot Weather Regulations
L&I’s new rules for outdoor workers (effective 2023) include more specific requirements to prevent heat-related illness and injury.
At or above 80 degrees for most workers, employers must:
Encourage and allow workers to take paid preventative cool-down rest periods as needed;
Provide enough shade or other way of cooling down—like an air-conditioned building or running vehicle—for all employees on a meal or rest break to use;
Provide enough cool drinking water for each employee to drink a quart per hour; and
Closely observe new employees, employees returning from absences, and, during heat waves, all employees.
At or above 90 degrees, employers must require a 10-minute paid cool down rest period every two hours. When the temperature reaches 100 degrees or higher, the requirement for breaks becomes 15-minutes of paid cool down rest every hour.
The general RCW is here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=49.17.010
We would recommend you keep a thermometer on board showing the internal temperature of your food truck or trailer and have employee training & guidance to prevent overheating.
Update: On March 21, 2023, the Department of Labor & Industries’ (L&I) filed proposed rules to update the Outdoor Heat Exposures rules under WAC 296-62-094 and 296-307-097. These proposed changes address minimum requirements to prevent heat-related illness and reduce traumatic injuries for outdoor workers associated with heat exposure. You can download a training document with the rules here.
More on what you need to know to keep you and your employees safe below:
https://lni.wa.gov/safety-health/safety-training-materials/workshops-events/beheatsmart
https://mynorthwest.com/3577233/wa-workers-receive-extra-breaks-to-keep-cool-in-the-extreme-heat/
