Nevada
New heat-based worker protections on the books in Nevada
LAS VEGAS — For the first time, businesses in Nevada will have to comply with heat-based hazard regulations in the workplace.
The announcement came from the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Wednesday, following the hottest summer on record in Las Vegas.
This is big news for any organization with more than 10 employees where most employees are exposed to heat illness. These businesses will now have to do a job hazard analysis specifically on heat and adopt a written plan to mitigate worker exposure.
The new regulations are not temperature-threshold specific.
“Because every job is different, whether you’re in a kitchen, whether you’re outside as a landscaper or construction worker or a warehouse, every situation is different where there was no uniform temperature threshold that worked for all types of environments,” Victoria Carreon, Division of Industrial Relations Administrator, said.
Other states that have heat-based workplace regulations include California, Washington and Oregon making Nevada the next in the West to adopt such workplace rules. However, this new regulation did not come from the state lawmakers or from the federal level.
“In this case, this was not required by the legislature, this was something that Nevada OSHA decided was really important for Nevada given our hot, desert climate and the hazard of heat illness,” Carreon said.
Guidance for how this regulation will be rolled out and implemented is expected in the next 30 days. After that, an outreach and engagement initiative will take place over the course of three months to help businesses understand what they need to do to comply with this newest regulation.
Enforcement will begin after that, just in time for next summer.
“Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the employers to determine what the hazards are and implement measures that will protect their employees from heat illness,” Carreon said.
2024’s Extreme Heat
This year, OSHA received 467 heat-related complaints for workplace hazards, which may not be surprising given the record-breaking nature of this season’s hot weather. We experienced 112 days over 100°, with 36 of those days over 110°.
The level of heat-related mortality also rose this year, Clark County has counted over 400 deaths so far this year where hot temperatures played a significant role.
Clark Co. reports 402 heat deaths so far this year
Regulation Outline
The approved regulation (R131-24AP [leg.state.nv.us]) requires businesses with more than 10 employees to implement the following measures:
- Job Hazard Analysis: Businesses with more than 10 employees must perform a one-time job hazard analysis of working conditions that could cause heat illness.
- This analysis is limited to job classifications where a majority of employees have occupational exposure to heat illness for more than 30 minutes of any 60-minute period, excluding breaks.
- Written Safety Program: If the job hazard analysis identifies conditions that may cause heat illness, a written plan is required that includes the following:
- Provision of potable water;
- Provision of a rest break when an employee exhibits signs or symptoms of heat illness;
- Provision for means of cooling for employees;
- Monitoring by a person designated by the employer of working conditions that could create occupational exposure to heat illness;
- Identification and mitigation of work processes that may generate additional heat or humidity;
- Training of employees; and
- Procedures for responding to an emergency.
- Emergency Procedures: Employers are required to designate an individual who will contact emergency services if an employee is experiencing signs of heat illness.
- Training: Employers are required to provide training to employees identified in the job hazard analysis on the following topics:
- How to recognize the hazards of heat illness
- Procedures to be followed to minimize the hazards of heat illness.
- Exemption for Climate-Controlled Environments:
- The regulation’s requirements do not apply to employees who work indoors in climate-controlled environments, including motor vehicles with a properly functioning climate control system.
- If the climate control system becomes nonfunctional or ineffective, the employer shall make a good-faith effort to reestablish an effective system as soon as practicable.
- Until the climate control system is rendered effective, the employer must implement the potential hazards that could cause heat illness.
- Collective Bargaining Agreements:
- Employers can exceed the requirements of the regulation on their own or through collective bargaining agreements.
- Collective bargaining agreements cannot waive or reduce the requirements of the regulation; and
- The regulation does not relieve an employer of contractual obligations under a collective bargaining agreement.
Nevada
Nevada attorney general joins multi-state lawsuit over SNAP benefit cuts during government shutdown
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Tuesday he is joining a multi-state lawsuit against the Trump administration over cuts to federal food assistance benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown.
As the shutdown enters its fourth week, approximately 500,000 Nevadans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, face uncertainty about their November benefits. Our state typically receives around $90 million per month in federal SNAP funding.
WATCH | Anyssa Bohanan breaks down some of the ways the shutdown is affecting Southern Nevadans
Nevada SNAP to go without funding as government shutdown stretches on
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says on their website that SNAP benefits will not be distributed starting Nov. 1, stating “the well has run dry” and pointing to Senate Democrats as the reason for the shutdown. Nationally, SNAP helps approximately 42 million Americans.
WATCH | Scripps News speaks with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins about the ongoing shutdown, impact to SNAP benefits
Agriculture secretary says emergency fund isn’t enough to cover SNAP benefits
However, attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia argue the USDA is making a “deliberate” decision to withhold contingency funds that exist for exactly this scenario.
RELATED STORY | DoorDash, restaurants offer free help as SNAP funding lapses during shutdown
“The Trump Administration’s choice to cut SNAP benefits is not only a deliberate, cruel and extraordinarily harmful decision, it is unlawful. And the reason it cites — the ongoing federal government shutdown — is inadequate,” Ford said in a news release.
In an agency memo obtained by Scripps News, the USDA says they are saving more than $5 billion in contingency funds for more immediate emergencies like “hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and without notice.” Further, the agency says the appropriations for regular monthly benefits do not exist anymore due to the shutdown, and they will not reimburse states who try providing benefits themselves.
“Contingency funds exist for this exact scenario, yet the USDA has decided to abdicate its responsibility to Nevadans and refused to fund SNAP benefits. I understand the stress of not knowing where your next meal is coming from, because I’ve lived it. I don’t wish that stress on any Nevadan, and I’ll fight to be sure nobody in our state goes hungry. I urge Governor Lombardo to do the same and to work with his party and President Trump to ensure that Nevadans receive their SNAP benefits,” Ford continued.
Gov. Joe Lombardo has urged the federal government to end their standstill, citing its harmful effects on Nevada in letters sent our federal delegation, specifically over SNAP.
In the 51-page lawsuit, attorneys general claim the lapse in SNAP benefits would bring more harm beyond just those who rely on the program, but also local governments, school systems and food pantries as their supplies can’t meet the spike in demand.
WATCH | Steve Sebelius speaks with local food pantry over the SNAP benefit crisis
Members of Congress, Governor Trade Letters Over SNAP amid Shutdown
Ford joins attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin in the lawsuit. The governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania have also joined the suit.
The Nevada Air National Guard in Reno will unveil a 53-foot Christmas tree on Tuesday — a Nevada-grown red fir that will travel across the country to the U.S. Capitol Building.
According to a news release from the Nevada Air National Guard, the tree was grown in the Carson Ranger District and has been temporarily housed at its Reno base. The Guard transported the tree on Sunday for decoration ahead of its whistle-stop tour through Nevada and beyond.
The tree will also appear in Carson City for the Nevada Day Parade on Saturday before continuing its journey east.
The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree initiative is a 55-year tradition in which one of America’s 154 national forests provides a tree for the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol during the holiday season.
Jim Kaufmann, executive director of Capitol grounds and arboretum at the architect of the Capitol, selected this year’s tree from nine candidates identified by Forest Service staff in the Carson Ranger District in northern Nevada and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area outside Las Vegas.
“Selecting a tree to adorn the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol is a great honor,” Kaufmann said in a previous Forest Service release. “Forest Service staff showed me nine wonderful candidates during my visit. Ultimately, we selected a magnificent red fir to represent the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and Nevada at the U.S. Capitol during the 2025 holiday season.”
The red fir, or Abies magnifica, grows at higher elevations and is known for its blue-green needles that point upward and dense, sturdy branches — ideal for displaying ornaments, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
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