The White House on Thursday announced a first-ever "Hazard Alert" for heat as record-breaking high temperatures are forecast across the nation.
President Biden has instructed the Department of Labor to issue the alert and raise awareness that workers have heat-related protections under federal law. The Biden administration will provide information related to those protections to help ensure that workers are aware of those rights, including protections against retaliation, and highlight actions by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to protect workers, the White House said.
"For years, heat has been the number one cause of weather-related deaths in America. And workers, including farmworkers, farmers, firefighters, and construction workers, are disproportionately impacted by extreme heat," the White House said. "Since 2011, more than 400 workers have died due to environmental heat exposure, and thousands more are hospitalized every year. The Hazard Alert will reaffirm that workers have heat-related protections under federal law."
Biden invited Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg to the White House Thursday for an event highlighting the impact of extreme heat on their communities.
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The event comes amid a deadly summer heat wave that is stretching coast to coast.
Scorching high temperatures in the western and southern half of the U.S. have strained electric grids, knocking out power in some areas causing dozens of deaths and heat-related injuries.
In California, a 65-year-old man died in his car at Death Valley National Park on July 3 when temperatures reached 126 degrees. National Parks officials believe his death was due to the extreme heat.
Southern California was under an Excessive Heat Warning on July 3 when the man was found in his car off North Highway.
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On the same day, a 57-year-old woman died from a heat-related illness in a remote area of the Grand Canyon National Park. Officials said she was attempting an 8-mile hike during 100-degree temperatures.
A week before, a father and son in Texas died hiking in Big Bend National Park during extreme heat.
Now, those high temperatures are making their way east, putting millions more at risk.
More than 151 million people across the country are under some kind of heat alert Thursday, ranging from Heat Advisories to Excessive Heat Warnings, Fox Weather reported. Heat index readings in multiple states are projected to hit triple digits, with temperatures that could feel like 106 in New York, 105 in Minneapolis and up to 114 degrees in St. Louis.
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The White House attributed the heat wave to the "climate crisis."
In addition to the Hazard Alert, the Labor Department will increase enforcement of heat-safety violations and conduct additional inspections in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture, as OSHA works on creating a national standard for workplace heat-safety rules, the White House said.
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The Biden administration is also spending up to $7 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to improve weather forecasts and $152 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand water storage in drought-prone areas of California, Colorado and Washington.
Fox Business' Madeline Coggins and Fox Weather's Emilee Speck contributed to this report.
