Heat Safety Training Requirements: What US Employers Should Prepare Now

Last updated: June 23, 2026

Current OSHA status

OSHA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings on August 30, 2024. The informal public hearing ran from June 16 through July 2, 2025, and the post-hearing comment period ended on October 30, 2025.

That means employers should treat heat safety as an active compliance topic, even before a final rule is issued. OSHA already describes excessive workplace heat as capable of causing serious health effects, including heat stroke and death, and identifies risk in both outdoor and indoor environments without adequate climate controls.

Who needs heat safety training?

Heat exposure is not only a construction issue. Training may be relevant for outdoor crews, warehouses, manufacturing lines, maintenance teams, field service staff, delivery operations, agriculture, landscaping, utilities, and any indoor environment where process heat or poor ventilation creates risk.

Supervisors need additional training because they control pace, breaks, escalation, and whether early symptoms are treated seriously.

What heat safety training should cover

• Risk recognition: heat index, indoor heat sources, PPE impacts, exertion, humidity, and individual risk factors.
• Prevention: water, rest, shade or cooling, acclimatization, scheduling, and workload adjustment.
• Symptoms: heat rash, cramps, heat exhaustion, confusion, loss of consciousness, and heat stroke warning signs.
• Response: when to stop work, how to cool a worker, when to call emergency services, and who has authority to intervene.
• Reporting: how employees raise concerns and how supervisors document incidents or near misses.

Records to keep

Maintain employee completion records, role-specific supervisor training records, training content versions, attendance logs, refresher schedules, incident-triggered retraining, and evidence that training was available in a language and format workers understand.

Records matter because a training program that cannot be evidenced looks weaker during an inspection, even when managers believe training occurred.

A practical preparation plan

1. Identify all roles and sites with outdoor heat, indoor heat, or high-exertion work.
2. Separate worker training from supervisor training.
3. Create an annual refresher plan before the hottest months.
4. Document training content, attendance, and acknowledgements.
5. Review heat incidents and near misses to trigger retraining where needed.