NJ has no workplace protections for the heat. A bill to create them is languishing.

Another heat wave is scorching the region this week, but delivery drivers are still moving packages. Construction workers are still on their job sites. Cooks are still in the kitchen. And they are all feeling the heat.

But there are no specific New Jersey regulations requiring workplace heat protections. State Sen. Joe Cryan, a Union County Democrat, wants to change that with a bill that would create sweeping new rules, including mandating access to cold water, shade and staffing levels when temperatures soar.

Federal data shows at least 436 workers suffered heat-related deaths between 2011 and 2021 nationwide. An estimated 28,000 Americans suffer heat-related illness or injuries on the job every year, according to a study published last year by researchers from Harvard and George Washington universities. And climate change is driving more intense heat waves, driving up the threat each year.

“ We need to react. We know that climate change is real. We know what we're dealing with in terms of impact to workers is, very, very real,” Cryan said. “We need to face it as a state and just put our big boy pants on and say, ‘All right, let's do something here.’”

Cryan’s bill would also require paid rest breaks and limit shift lengths on hot days. Employers would be required to provide cooling technologies where possible, and to create plans for protecting their workers from heat illness. Violations of the regulations could be enforced with fines or jail time.

The bill was first introduced in late 2023, after Gothamist and NJ Spotlight News reported on the growing risks that extreme heat poses to New Jersey’s farmworkers. But the measure would apply to almost all workplaces, and is modeled on heat protections in the handful of other states that have already taken such measures: California, Washington and Oregon. New York state lawmakers are considering a similar bill.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office declined to comment on the New Jersey bill.

An early July heat wave killed at least 29 people in the Garden State, according to state health officials. It’s unclear how many of those deaths were work-related. State officials said 387 people visited emergency departments around New Jersey during the heat wave between July 1 and July 4.

Cryan said those numbers should be a wake-up call. He worries about what this week will bring, as highs reach the upper 90s and 100s.

“I don't know what else you would need for a call to action to try to have a state respond accordingly and meet the needs of its residents,” Cryan said.

Business groups have staunchly opposed the bill, warning it would create overbearing and expensive requirements and ultimately threaten the ability of businesses to operate in the state.

“It places an overwhelming, one-size-fits-all regulatory burden on business in very different industries that present vastly different risks,” Jack Kelly, a policy analyst for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said in a statement.

Daniel Klim, the president and CEO of the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association, said his members have specifically raised concerns that the regulations would be overbearing for kitchens, which are hot by their nature. Cooling systems for kitchens can be cost-prohibitive for small restaurants to install, Klim said.

“ You're going to get a kitchen that's going to exceed 80 to 85 degrees, whatever the Commissioner of Labor would set that standard rate at,” Klim said.

Business advocates point out that federal recommendations for heat protection on the job already exist. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration can cite businesses for unsafe heat practices under the General Duty Clause, but OSHA has no specific rules on the books for heat protection. The agency proposed such rules under the Biden administration. That proposal remains pending, but it takes OSHA nearly eight years on average to adopt new rules.

“New Jersey employers have proven they can provide safe workplaces for employees during periods of excessive heat,” Kelly said. “At a time when New Jersey is ranked as one of the worst business climates in the nation, we encourage our lawmakers to instead strive for a regulatory environment that doesn't once again make New Jersey a national policy outlier.”

But Cryan said guidance and counting on all employers to do the right thing is not enough.

“ Not everybody's going to give you the water break, not everybody's going to provide shade,” Cryan said. “Not every employer's going to do the things that we expect the good ones to do, and it's important that the state take a thorough reaction to what's happening around us and adjust accordingly.”

Previous versions of the bill have advanced through early committees in Trenton, but have never made it to the Senate or Assembly floors.

Cryan doubts the bill will be a priority for legislative leaders in the near term.

“ I think it's going to continue to take a significant struggle,” Cryan said. “When we come back in Trenton, for example, in September and October, talking about heat strokes and heat waves and heat domes becomes a thing of the past. Memories are short, so we certainly have a lot more to do.”