DOLI Forms Advisory Panel to Draft Virginia's First Heat Illness Prevention Standard

Five years after a divided state board rejected Virginia's first attempt at a heat illness rule, the Commonwealth is trying again – and this time it has a statutory deadline. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) has begun assembling a Regulatory Advisory Panel (RAP) to help write the state's first mandatory heat illness prevention standard, following legislation enacted during the 2026 General Assembly Session that gives the effort a hard deadline and, for the first time, the force of law behind it. 

The measure, codified at Virginia Code § 40.1-44.2, directs the Safety and Health Codes Board to adopt regulations protecting workers from heat illness during both indoor and outdoor work. Under the enactment clause of the legislation, the Board – in consultation with DOLI – must develop and adopt those regulations no later than May 1, 2028. 

Once adopted, the standard is expected to require employers to address: 

• Drinking water 
• Access to shade or climate-controlled environments when practicable 
• Rest periods 
• Acclimatization 
• Training 
• Heat and high-heat procedures 
• Emergency response procedures 

The law exempts certain emergency services activities – including emergency law enforcement, EMS, firefighting, rescue and evacuation operations, emergency highway construction or maintenance, and emergency utility restoration – as well as heat exposure lasting no more than 15 consecutive minutes. 

A second attempt, five years later 

This is not Virginia's first attempt to regulate heat illness. In 2019, the Safety and Health Codes Board voted unanimously to begin developing a heat illness rule under the Northam administration, convening a 40-member advisory panel of labor, business, and health stakeholders.  VTCA had members volunteer to serve and provide relevant experience on the topic. That panel produced a draft standard – the 2021 Draft Heat Illness Prevention Standard – that would have required employers to provide water and rest breaks at set temperature thresholds, along with shaded or cooled rest areas. In December 2021, however, the Board narrowly voted 6-5 to reject the proposed standard, effectively ending that rulemaking effort before it reached final adoption. 

The 2026 legislation revives unfinished work rather than starting from scratch. It expressly directs the Safety and Health Codes Board to consider the shelved 2021 draft standard, along with standards developed by federal OSHA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, the American National Standards Institute, and the existing heat rules in Maryland, Oregon, and California, as it builds Virginia's new standard.   

Seven states currently have some form of heat illness prevention standard: California, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. The scope of these standards varies by state. California, Maryland, Nevada, and Oregon have more comprehensive requirements covering both indoor and outdoor work and generally align more closely with OSHA’s proposed approach. Washington’s standard applies only to outdoor work, Minnesota’s applies only to indoor work, and Colorado’s applies only to agricultural workers. 
 
A stalled federal effort 

Virginia's renewed push also comes as a parallel effort at the federal level has lost momentum. Federal OSHA opened rulemaking on a national heat injury and illness prevention standard in 2021 and published a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in August 2024, covering both outdoor and indoor work settings across general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture. The proposed rule would require employers to provide water, paid rest breaks in cool areas, training, and emergency response procedures once heat-index or temperature thresholds are met, and it drew tens of thousands of public comments. 

OSHA's public comment period closed in January 2025, and the agency held an informal public hearing from June 16 through July 2, 2025, with a post-hearing comment period that ran through October 30, 2025. Since then, the rulemaking has effectively stalled: the current administration paused the rule's progression shortly after taking office in January 2025, and as of this writing OSHA has not set a target date for finalizing the standard. The Department of Labor's most recent regulatory agenda indicates OSHA intends to issue a supplemental proposed rule later this year.   

That uncertainty at the federal level is part of what makes Virginia's statutory deadline notable: unlike the discretionary process that produced – and then stalled – the 2021 draft standard, the 2026 law leaves the Safety and Health Codes Board no discretion on whether to act, only on how the standard is written. 

Building the advisory panel 

As it did in 2019, DOLI is once again convening an advisory panel to inform the regulation – this time with the input required by statute. The RAP is expected to include, but is not limited to: 

• Worker advocates 
• Labor organizations 
• Industry representatives 
• Safety and health professionals 
• Stakeholders representing agriculture 
• Stakeholders representing business industries 
• Stakeholders representing public institutions of higher education 
• Academic experts

Where VTCA Stands 

VTCA has been in ongoing discussions with DOLI on the development of the Heat Illness Prevention regulation and is hopeful that representatives from the VTCA community – contractors, engineering consultants, and aggregate producers alike – will be named to the RAP. VTCA intends to provide testimony as the panel formulates the standard, and staff will keep members informed as the process moves forward. We encourage members with direct, on-the-ground experience managing heat exposure on Virginia jobsites to submit a recommendation or to reach out to VTCA staff if they are interested in serving or in recommending a colleague. 

Interested in Participating? 

VTCA is seeking individuals interested in being considered for the RAP.  Recommendations should be submitted by Monday, August 24, 2026. Complete the RAP Recommendation Form available at this link. Additional information about the Heat Illness Prevention regulation, including its progress toward the Board's May 1, 2028 deadline, is available on DOLI's website at this link. 
 
We also encourage you to share this information with individuals and organizations that may be interested in participating in or following the development of the regulation. If you have questions about the RAP, the recommendation process, or the development of the Heat Illness Prevention regulation, please contact Gordon Dixon.