Staff Reports
Joe Biden is up to his usual tricks again. This time, he’s pushing for new red tape that supposedly aims to protect workers from extreme heat. Isn’t that rich? While millions are sweating it out in record temperatures, Biden’s team is concocting more ways to meddle in business operations with a shiny new set of regulations.
The proposed rules, if someone is naive enough to think they’ll actually see the light of day, aim to protect around 35 million workers from the perils of heat at work. This will allegedly impact everyone from farmworkers and construction laborers to delivery drivers, landscapers, and indoor workers at warehouses, factories, and kitchens. That’s right, Big Brother Biden wants to make sure everyone has their designated water break. Next, he’ll probably mandate coloring books and nap time.
Biden will lay out these heatwave heroics during his upcoming remarks on the nation’s recent spate of extreme weather. What this really means is more government overreach by requiring employers to identify heat risks, draft emergency heat plans, and train employees on what to do when it gets hot. This proposal even includes providing more rest breaks, shade, and water. What’s next, free popsicles?
It would also require employers to provide rest breaks, provide shade and water and ease new workers into hot jobs to help their bodies adjust. https://t.co/rRTsY1elNk
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) July 2, 2024
Apparently, when the combined heat and humidity hit 80 degrees, employers must spring into action, offering breaks and shade. When it cranks up to 90 degrees, workers get paid 15-minute breaks every two hours, and supervisors have to ensure no one’s fainting from the heat. And if businesses slip up? Here come the hefty fines, equivalent to those dished out by OSHA for other workplace violations, like Biden’s handing out Halloween candy.
Of course, all these feel-good measures won’t kick in until at least 2026—conveniently far away enough to potentially avoid implementation if Biden doesn’t snag a second term. It’s a classic political move: make promises now, let the next administration worry about it later.
While the CDC reports around 2,300 people died from heat-related illnesses last year, one must question whether this layer of bureaucratic intervention is the real solution. The Labor Department and OSHA have been yammering for years about heat protections, but only a handful of states have bothered to implement such rules, mostly for outdoor workers. Still, Biden seems to think a federal mandate is the cure-all.
As extreme heat waves blanket large swaths of the country, affecting areas like California, Oklahoma, and the Gulf Coast, it’s no surprise the current administration jumps at the chance to legislate more control. After all, what better way to assert dominance than under the guise of protecting the masses from “extreme weather”? One can only chuckle at the never-ending parade of out-of-touch governmental solutions.
