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Phoenix passes heat safety ordinance for outdoor workers
- Citywide Protection: Phoenix’s City Council unanimously passes a heat safety ordinance aimed at safeguarding outdoor workers from the severe Arizona heat, effective within 30 days of approval.
- Mandatory Heat Safety Plans: The ordinance mandates that employers with outdoor workers must have a heat safety plan in place, including provisions for free cool drinking water, regular breaks, access to shade and air conditioning, acclimatization practices, and heat illness training.
- Rationale and Support: The decision comes in response to alarming statistics of heat-related illnesses and deaths, with over 600 deaths in Maricopa County, nearly 400 in Phoenix alone, prompting strong advocacy from union representatives and worker advocates.
- Business Benefits and Opposition: While some, like the Director of Phoenix’s Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, see the ordinance as beneficial for both workers’ safety and business productivity, the Arizona chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America opposes it, citing redundancy, vagueness in requirements, and concerns about lack of appeals process in case of employer debarment.
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