Jun. 15—A proposed workplace heat safety rule that would apply to all places of employment in New Mexico has caught the spotlight as employers and workers are voicing vehement arguments for and against it.
The controversy has led to a six-month delay in the state adopting such a rule, frustrating advocates who view it as a common-sense safety measure but sparking hope for some who think it’s too broad to apply to every industry.
There’s also a federal draft rule regarding heat illness and injury that exists, but it’s unclear when those new standards could be adopted, according to the New Mexico Environment Department. The state rule proposal presents a more immediate pathway for heat precautions in workplaces.
Since April 2024, there have been more than 830 emergency department visits related to heat, according to the New Mexico Environmental Public Health Tracking program. The program documented more than 900 emergency department visits due to heat in 2023.
A coalition of climate advocacy organizations estimate close to 250,000 people in New Mexico are at risk of heat-related illness and injury.
The rule would require a slew of control measures when the heat index — a measure of how hot it feels to the human body taking into account temperature, humidity and type of clothing — exceeds 80 degrees. The measures include regular rest breaks, provided shaded or cooled areas, free and accessible drinking water, acclimatized working schedules and monitoring for heat-related illness.
The draft rule also provides a schedule for work and rest times according to heat indexes. It starts requiring breaks for employees based on heat indexes of 106 degrees for light work, 100 degrees for medium work and 95 degrees for heavy work. The breaks start at 15 minutes per hour and gradually increase as the heat index increases.
It’s a no-brainer for Carlos Matutes, state director of the national nonprofit GreenLatinos. Matutes grew up in San Antonio, working in the industrial light repair industry before traveling to south Texas to work in the oil and gas industry and autobody shops.
“I lived working in extreme heat. I know what it’s like to not be able to think clearly or maybe even make good decisions because you’re so overheated,” he said. “I know what it’s like to just feel so drained at the end of the day because you’ve been working in such hot conditions that you’re not able to do anything.”
He’s frustrated the state won’t make a decision on the workplace heat rules this summer, as temperatures are getting warmer and warmer.
“We’re very disappointed that we have to put folks at risk for another summer,” he said.
The timeline
NMED published the draft heat rule in March and initially had a July hearing before the state Environmental Improvement Board — the entity within NMED that adopts and promulgates rules like this.
But after several groups presented strong support or opposition to the rule, NMED extended the timeline for the rulemaking, and the EIB pushed the hearing to November and then again to January due to scheduling conflicts, according to an NMED spokesperson.
In the meantime, NMED this month is taking into account feedback on the rule through the public comments it received before the deadline passed in late May. Then, in July and August, the department will hold stakeholder roundtables to gather more data relevant to heat injuries and illnesses.
NMED will file an amended heat rule to the EIB by Oct. 1, according to the department, which is what the EIB will review in next year’s hearing, scheduled to start Jan. 12.
“Now is the time to implement some rules to try and protect those workers,” said Bob Genoway, acting deputy director of compliance and enforcement at NMED.
If adopted, Genoway said the rule would take effect before next summer.
“While we would love to have a rule in place for this summer — based on the timeline that we were looking at, we were looking toward the end of summer to get the rule in place — by extending this period, we’re going to really have the best rule that we can put forth before the commission for the hearing,” he said.
Industry opposition
Industry officials agree that there needs to be heat safety in the workplace, said Carla Kugler, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors New Mexico, but they disagree on whether this is how the state should go about it.
“You can’t afford to have your employees become ill from heat stress. We want to keep them safe,” she said. “… But the way in which (the rule) describes it, we’re having a difficult time seeing how anybody’s going to get work done.”
Jim Garcia, executive director for the Associated Contractors of New Mexico, considers the rule an overly burdensome, one-fits-all approach that won’t apply well to all industries.
For example, he brought up a hypothetical construction project. Thirty dump trucks are coming down the road laying out 300-degree asphalt, which requires specific conditions to be laid, held and cooled, he said. But suddenly, operations must come to a halt, he said, so workers can take a 15-minute break.
“You are on a critical path for keeping up at that schedule, and if you don’t keep up with that schedule, you’re assessed late days,” he said. “… How do you bid on a job knowing that it’s going to take you through the May, June, July, August, time frame in a heat environment where you could be facing 90, 95 degrees with a heat index schedule putting you well over 100 degrees?
“That means that there will be no work done in the state of New Mexico outside from June until September. So it’s wrought with problems.”
Kugler and Garcia also expressed concerns over how much the heat precautionary measures would cost.
However, Whitney Holland, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico, described the pushback as typical from industries that are prioritizing work over workers.
“I don’t understand what it’s going to take to turn the tide on that narrative,” she said.
The union is supporting the rules due to what Holland described as “unfathomable working conditions,” with schools starting earlier every year and some buildings not even having air conditioning on yet.
She said she’s frustrated with the delays in the rulemaking process but remains hopeful.
“I hope that given the makeup of the (Environmental Improvement) Board — and I want to believe it’s a priority of the governor — that cooler heads will prevail at the end of the day,” Holland said.