Bill Tees Up Heat, Cold Protections for Workers

worker's water break

A measure introduced in the Massachusetts legislature, Senate Bill 3240, would require employers to provide shaded areas, free drinking water and thermometers once the heat index in a work area exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit, with paid 10-minute cooldown breaks required at 90 degrees and hourly breaks required at 100 degrees.
The bill also sets cold-weather protections, requiring employers to provide heated break areas and allow warm-up breaks once temperatures fall below 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Additional provisions cover acclimatization periods for new or returning workers, training to help identify temperature-related illness and requirements for employers to maintain records of temperature-related illnesses and deaths.
If enacted, the protections would extend broadly to public and private employees, independent contractors, app-based delivery drivers, farmworkers, temporary workers, and seasonal workers.

Forty-two Kentucky employers were recognized for workplace safety and health excellence at this year’s Governor’s Safety and Health Conference in Owensboro, collectively logging more than 38.6 million consecutive hours worked between June 1, 2025 and May 30, 2026 without an occupational injury or illness resulting in lost time.
Three Northern Kentucky companies received awards: L’Oreal Walton (1,715,997 hours), L’Oreal Florence (1,076,311 hours), and Radial Walton (660,157 hours).
Andy Beshear credited the state’s economic momentum to its workforce and thanked the recognized companies for their commitment to worker safety.
The Governor’s Safety and Health Awards Program is administered by the Education and Labor Cabinet’s Division of Education and Training, which has partnered with the Kentucky Safety and Health Network Inc. for more than four decades to host the annual conference dedicated to occupational safety and health awareness.

A 32-year-old sanitation worker in Gaffney, South Carolina, died Monday afternoon after falling from the rear platform of a garbage collection truck during his first day on the job, according to Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler.
Dover was one of two workers riding the truck’s rear platform as roll-out carts were being emptied around 1:50 p.m., and fell onto the pavement when the truck turned a corner.
He was transported by ambulance to Spartanburg Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 3:26 p.m.
The truck was being driven by Dover’s father at the time of the accident, and an autopsy will be performed as part of the coroner’s ongoing investigation.