US Workers Face Record Heat as Federal Protection Rule Stalls

Esther Minton wears a long-sleeved shirt to work when the temperature hits 90F.

"Working outside, you don't have cover. There's nowhere for you to really go if you're on a roof or if you're on the side of a building," said Minton, a member of the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 28 in New York City. "Having the sun beaming on your skin all day long, you'll never make it through, so what you wear makes a difference."

Her calculation is practical, not optional. Workers across the United States are toiling through record heat while the federal government pulls back on protections against heat-related illnesses and deaths. Trump officials and Republicans are rolling back those safeguards, leaving exposure decisions to individual workers and their employers.

For outdoor trades, the exposure is structural. Roofers and building-side laborers cannot relocate their work. Clothing choices become a primary defense against a hazard that regulations no longer address.

The rollback reverses a regulatory trajectory that had been moving toward federal heat standards for workplaces. With the rule frozen, workers in construction and similar outdoor industries face record temperatures without a mandatory federal framework governing rest, water, or shade.

Union members like Minton are managing the risk through equipment and experience. The Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 28 operates in New York City, where summer heat routinely tests outdoor crews.

The practical consequence: workers on roofs and building facades make do with what they wear. As heat records continue, the gap between workplace conditions and federal oversight widens — and the burden of staying cool falls on the people least able to escape the sun.