Heat Illness Rulemaking: Regulatory Advisory Panel Update

Virginia is writing its first workplace heat illness prevention standard, and VTCA has a seat at the table. Legislation passed by the 2026 General Assembly (Va. Code § 40.1-44.2) directs the Safety and Health Codes Board to adopt a standard, 16VAC25-210, covering both indoor and outdoor heat exposure. To help draft it, the Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) held an open comment period, and VTCA worked with ARTBA on drafting comments. 
 
Then DOLI convened a Regulatory Advisory Panel (RAP) of about 30 members representing labor unions, worker advocates, local governments, researchers, businesses, and trade groups.

What Happened at Meeting One

The panel first met on October 15. Secretary of Labor Jessica Looman and DOLI Commissioner Jim Frederick opened the session, and DOLI staff laid out the process: the RAP advises, DOLI drafts proposed regulatory text, and the Codes Board then decides after a public comment period. The statute requires the standard to address temperature thresholds, water and rest, acclimatization, shade or climate-controlled areas, training, high-heat procedures and emergency response.

Several issues raised matter directly to our industry:

• Multi-employer worksites. Panelists pressed for clarity on who provides shade, water and rest when an owner, general contractor and subcontractors share a site. DOLI indicated it will look at actual control over working conditions, not contract labels.
• Emergency highway work. The statute exempts emergency highway construction and maintenance, but panelists questioned how “emergency” will be defined and warned against stretching exemptions past the true emergency phase. That definition will matter for incident and storm response.
• A 15-minute exemption. Several members opposed a blanket exemption for brief exposures and suggested weighing both temperature and duration.
• Measurement. Some members urged Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) as the official metric vs. standard temperature which does not account for humidity and recommended the construction consensus standard ANSI/ASSP A10.50 as a model. Manufacturers called for science-based, risk-based and flexible requirements.
• Program elements. Proposals included site-specific hazard assessments, written programs developed with worker input, some even advocated for a “stop-work” authority, anti-retaliation protections and recordkeeping.

What Comes Next

The panel meets again on October 29 for small-group work in three rounds:

1. Exposure assessment and triggers: heat index, air temperature or WBGT, and the initial and high-heat trigger levels.
2. Water, cooling and rest: shade and cooling areas, rest schedules and engineering controls.
3. Acclimatization and elevated-risk conditions: heat waves, sudden temperature spikes and when work must be modified or stopped.

The final scheduled meeting is November 12. DOLI will then prepare a proposed regulation for the Codes Board, followed by a formal public comment period.

How VTCA Is Engaging

VTCA has formed a member Heat Illness Task Force of contractors and aggregate safety professionals, and its input is guiding work on the panel. Our priorities are tiered triggers with flexible compliance, practical acclimatization and training requirements, alignment with federal and neighboring-state standards, and contract and schedule relief on VDOT work when heat conditions affect production. Our goal is a standard that protects workers while keeping projects moving.

Members who want to join the task force or share their company’s heat illness program should contact Gordon Dixon. Minutes, slides and recordings are posted on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall and DOLI’s Heat Illness Prevention Standard webpage.