Ontario has passed the first reading of Bill 222, Heat Stress Act, 2024, designed to develop and implement a Worker Heat Protection Standard in the face of a changing climate that increasingly exposes workers to extreme heat.
The private member’s bill, which would be an amendment to Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, had its first reading in November 2024.
Earlier this year in August, Earth set a new monthly temperature record, capping the hottest summer since global records began in 1880, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
“Workers who were previously working in conditions at the limit of their tolerance or who were working in conditions that were relatively benign are now facing unprecedented challenges,” states the preamble of the bill. “They need protection in a way not previously necessary, they need it consistently and they need it now. This Bill sets the framework for the protection of these workers throughout our whole society.”
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Bill 222 aims for every employer to require heat stress training for employees, which includes learning the signs and symptoms of heat-related illness. The bill would also not allow pay deductions for periods for heat breaks, medical removal protection and training.
The bill states that for the first five years after the Worker Heat Protection Standard is implemented, the provincial government will report on illness and mortality figures relating to heat stress and the Ministry’s enforcement activities with respect to the standard.
The Worker Heat Protection Standard proposes that adjustments to work procedures, work schedules or other work practices may be necessary under extreme heat. Employers may also need to conduct a heat stress assessment for employees. Additionally, isolating or shielding employees from sources of heat, exhaust ventilation, or insulation of hot surfaces and climate-control technologies may be necessary. Adequate hydration options and water-cooled or air-cooled garments could also be required by employers under the proposed standard.
