California’s heat protections for workers decreased heat-related deaths by 31% in recent years. With deaths climbing around the United States, extending these protections throughout the country could save as many as 1,500 lives each year.

With these reforms in place, employer compliance increased and heat-related fatalities dropped sharply. Our research found that California’s heat standard decreased deaths by 31 percent and may have prevented roughly thirty-four worker deaths every year from 2010 through 2020. With death rates climbing around the United States, extending these protections to workers throughout the country could save as many as 1,500 lives each year.

The findings are urgent because extreme heat has become one of the most dangerous and least regulated workplace hazards in America. Heat-related workplace deaths have more than doubled over the past twenty-five years, a trend driven by rising temperatures that place growing numbers of workers at risk.