HR 393: General Assembly; enact Workplace Safety and Heat Protection Act; urge

This resolution does not itself create new law. Instead, it formally urges the Georgia General Assembly to enact a separate bill, referred to as the Workplace Safety and Heat Protection Act (LC 46 0977), that would set workplace heat safety rules. The resolution lays out reasons for that call, pointing to health risks like heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and cardiovascular strain among workers in construction, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and warehousing, and to economic harms like lost wages and higher workers' compensation claims. The resolution describes what the urged Act should include: a definition of extreme heat as a heat index above 80 degrees Fahrenheit or another threshold set by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and a requirement that employers create heat illness prevention programs covering prevention, training, and emergency response. It directs the House Clerk to send copies to the Governor, the Commissioner of Labor, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and all legislators.

• Expresses the House's position urging the General Assembly to enact a separate bill called the Workplace Safety and Heat Protection Act.
• Describes a proposed definition of extreme heat as a heat index above 80 degrees Fahrenheit or another federal OSHA threshold.
• Describes a proposed requirement that employers adopt heat illness prevention programs covering prevention, training, and emergency response.
• Directs the House Clerk to distribute copies of the resolution to the Governor, the Commissioner of Labor, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and all General Assembly members.
• Does not itself create any enforceable heat safety standard or legal requirement on employers.

Workers in construction, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and warehousing who face outdoor or high-heat conditions, along with the employers in those industries. The resolution also names the Governor, the Commissioner of Labor, and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce as recipients.

Because this is a resolution, it carries no legal force on its own; no employer is required to change anything yet. Its significance is as a signal of legislative support that could shape whether a future bill setting heat exposure rules and mandatory prevention programs moves forward.

• The resolution's whereas clauses cite health risks (heat exhaustion, heat stroke, cardiovascular strain) and economic risks (lost wages, higher workers' compensation claims) tied to extreme heat exposure.
• The resolved clause urges enactment of the Workplace Safety and Heat Protection Act (LC 46 0977), naming it specifically as the bill being urged forward.
• Provision (1) describes defining extreme heat as a heat index above 80 degrees Fahrenheit or another threshold set by federal OSHA as of January 1, 2025.
• Provision (2) describes requiring employers to implement a heat illness prevention program covering prevention, training, and emergency response for workers in extreme heat.
• The final clause directs the Clerk of the House to send copies to the Governor, the Commissioner of Labor, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and all Assembly members.

1. 2025-02-28House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-27House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-26House Hopper (House)

• Kim Schofield (D, HD-63)Primary sponsor
• Viola Davis (D, HD-87)
• Sandra Scott (D, HD-76)
• Derrick Jackson (D, HD-68)
• Karla Drenner (D, HD-85)
• Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)

• workplace safety
• extreme heat
• labor protections
• outdoor workers
• occupational health