Pima is 1st Arizona county to pass heat protections for contractors

A local ordinance passed in Pima County will require county contractors to follow regulations to protect their workers from extreme heat.

Under the new ordinance, all Pima County contractors and subcontractors must provide heat protection measures for all outdoor workers — like access to cold water and shade, and breaks.

Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Adelita Grijalva says the effort began earlier this year.

“I visited a lot of the departments, [like] wastewater, a lot of our employees that work outside,” she said. “A couple of them have a little umbrella, but most of the time they’re out and it was a concern to me. And so I started asking what protections we provide and that sort of was the catalyst for moving forward.”

The ordinance was up for a 15-day comment period and supervisors voted to enact it in a 4-1 vote this month.

Grijalva says Pima is the first county in Arizona to pass such an ordinance.

“It’s really, it’s one of those things that, when you pass it, people say, ‘I thought we had something,’ because we regularly have 100 degree days,” she said.

Grijalva says the ordinance went into effect for county departments 30 days ago. This latest vote will require all contractors and subcontractors working with the county going forward to follow suit as well.