This bill requires the federal government to establish new workplace safety standards protecting farmworkers from wildfire smoke and extreme heat. An interim standard takes effect immediately upon passage, requiring farm employers to provide respirators (like N95 masks) when air quality becomes dangerous and water/cooling facilities when heat reaches hazardous levels, along with mandatory rest breaks and worker training in languages farmworkers understand. The Department of Labor must develop a permanent occupational safety standard within 90 days that meets at least the same protections as the interim rules and is no weaker than any existing state standards. The bill responds to growing public health threats posed by increasingly severe wildfires and heat waves across the U.S., which have caused documented farmworker deaths, and directs the Labor Department to provide free technical assistance and sample training materials to help farm employers comply with these new requirements.
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