As Heat Rises and Regulations Stall, Employers Must Lead on Climate Safety

With extreme weather accelerating and federal safeguards weakening, companies must adopt tech-driven strategies to protect outdoor workers and stay ahead of risk.

• By Heather Chapman
• May 13, 2025

2024 surpassed 2023 as the hottest year ever recorded, and preliminary data suggest 2025 will join them in the all‑time top three. The trend is unmistakable—and companies with employees exposed to the elements cannot afford to ignore it.

Intense heat is only one of the hazards escalating as climate change drives greater weather volatility at U.S. worksites. OSHA recently warned employers to brace for an active tornado season and to bolster preparedness plans. States are also stepping up: New Mexico, for example, is finalizing its own heat‑safety requirements ahead of summer.

Unfortunately, the visibility and momentum gained by safety advocates are being undercut as federal standards erode. Budget reductions at OSHA and NIOSH, combined with increasingly erratic weather, will leave employers struggling to protect workers unless they adopt alternative ways to assess and control risk. Leveraging technology to predict hazards, automate compliance checks, and trigger rapid corrective actions offers the clearest path to filling this widening safety gap.

Diminishing Regulatory Support Shouldn’t Stop Progress

Soon after the new administration took office, OSHA’s pending safety rulemakings slammed to a halt. Proposals that would have required rest breaks, cooling areas, and water for employees working in high heat and humidity have been sidelined. As regulations grow more uncertain, the duty to protect workers increasingly rests on employers. 

History shows that accountability fuels progress—OSHA’s successes in fall protection and in face, eye, and respiratory safeguards prove it. Yet no binding national standard exists for weather‑related hazards. Proposed heat‑stress rules appear unlikely to advance, even as extreme weather worsens. In the meantime, a few states—California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington—have forged ahead with their own heat‑stress protections, setting the pace in the absence of federal action.

Leaning on AI to Fill the Gap
The rising incidences of weather-related injuries and climate-driven risks are making traditional safety checks overall harder to maintain. Companies may, rightfully, struggle with predicting the unpredictable. After all, weather typically gives us little notice of its own plans so planning for severe conditions on short notice isn’t an easy task. This is where AI can be used to bridge the gap in knowledge and resources to protect workers and limit disruptions. Leveraging tools for pattern forecasting, predictive weather analytics, and automated corrective solutions can make safety strategies more effective and efficient.

For example, algorithms can project when thresholds will be exceeded and send advanced alerts to workers and supervisors, allowing them flexibility to reschedule tasks and arrange for breaks.  Smart wearables and AI analytics can flag early heat strain before symptoms arise, giving workers time to cool down.  This type of tech can provide an audible or haptic alert within seconds of a dangerous spike.  Predictive analytics can mine years of data to surface patterns so employers can identify the most at-risk work, hours, and projects.  Access to real-time data can help vulnerable workers take protective measures before an incident occurs.

These capabilities don’t replace fundamentals—acclimatization, shade, water—but they amplify them by turning scattered data into actionable intelligence, exactly the gap OSHA highlighted when it opened its national heat‑hazard rulemaking. Adding even a few AI tools can move an organization from reactive to predictive heat‑risk management.

These tools exist, and it’s imperative that organizations take advantage of them as weather-related injuries and legislative safety rollbacks increase alongside each other. Ahead of summer, now is the time to reevaluate what a safe working environment looks like. Proactively adopting heat stress and weather-related practices and investing in the resources to protect workers is both a moral and economic necessity.