Arizona labor groups call for workplace protections from extreme heat

Groups representing farmworkers, airport workers, letter carriers and construction workers are among more than two dozen organizations calling for Arizona to adopt enforceable statewide heat safety rules for workplaces.

The groups call themselves the Arizona Heat Standards Coalition. In a letter to Gov. Katie Hobbs this week, they said they want the Arizona Department of Occupational Safety and Health to adopt heat safety rules for all workers in the state, including requirements for water, shade and rest breaks.

“We’re not asking for anything unreasonable. We’re asking for dignity, safety, for the right to go to work and come home safe and alive,” said Arizona Heat Standards Coalition steering committee member Alexis Delgado Garcia.

In a rally at the state Capitol on Tuesday, members of the group chanted “heat protections now, before someone dies!”

There were 975 heat-related deaths statewide in Arizona in 2024, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. It’s unclear how many of those deaths were connected with exposure to heat in the workplace. But the coalition says stories of workplace heat illness are common.

Speaking at the rally, Tony Pineda said he became ill working as a roofer in Tucson. He said water was sometimes available on jobsites, but usually it was on the ground, not easily accessible for workers on the roof. He recalled one day when he left work early feeling nausea, cramps and other symptoms of heat exhaustion.

“When I got home, my wife was scared because my clothes were completely drenched in sweat,” Pineda said in Spanish, adding that his heat illness inspired him to get involved with labor organizing. “At the root of this experience, my life changed radically.”

The coalition says California and six other states have now adopted workplace rules for heat safety, while Arizona still has no statewide rules.

The cities of Phoenix, Tucson and Tempe have adopted heat safety ordinances for outdoor workers, as has Pima County. But coalition members point out those rules apply only to some city and county employees and contractors.

Hobbs last month set up a task force to come up with a set of heat safety recommendations for Arizona employers. But coalition members expressed concern that those guidelines will not be enforceable.

Hobbs in May signed a new law aimed at protecting construction workers from extreme heat by requiring municipalities to allow construction work to begin earlier in the morning May through mid-October. Democratic lawmakers also had proposed a handful of other bills related to workplace heat safety this session, but most did not receive hearings.