Is Your Heat Illness Plan Already Outdated?
Employers outside agriculture, construction, and a short list of other named industries have generally assumed California’s toughest heat rules simply do not apply to them.
That assumption is about to break. Cal/OSHA released a substantially revised discussion draft on August 14, 2026, amending the outdoor and indoor heat illness prevention standards at Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, §§ 3395 and 3396. The draft removes the existing industry limitation on outdoor high-heat procedures and extends those requirements to a broad range of outdoor employers whenever the temperature reaches 95 degrees Fahrenheit, regardless of sector.
The consequence lands hardest on employers who have never had to think about high-heat procedures before. The draft also expands acclimatization requirements for newly assigned employees and for anyone returning from an absence of more than fourteen days, and it adds a firm requirement to distribute the written Heat Illness Prevention Plan at hire, during training, and at least once a year.
Comments on the draft are due September 21, 2026, and Cal/OSHA has signaled it expects greater scrutiny of acclimatization practices going forward regardless of what changes before the rule is finalized.
Waiting for the final rule before updating an existing plan is the wrong sequencing. Reviewing the current heat illness plan against the August 2026 draft now, while the comment window is still open, gives an employer time to build compliant procedures instead of reacting to them.
If your current heat illness plan assumes your industry is exempt from high-heat procedures, that assumption may not survive this rulemaking cycle. Reviewing the plan now, before the rule finalizes, is worth a short conversation.
Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed – and how much of a conversation that takes.
This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts – no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.