Arizona Workers Demand Statewide Heat Protection Standard Amid Soaring Temperatures
As temperatures climb to 115°F, the Arizona Heat Standards Coalition and allies call on state officials to adopt enforceable protections for workers facing extreme heat.
- By Stasia DeMarco
- Jun 18, 2025
With temperatures expected to hit 115 degrees this week, workers and allies with the Arizona Heat Standards Coalition gathered at the State Capitol on Tuesday to call for an enforceable state standard providing workers with lifesaving heat protections like water, cool air, and rest.
“Protecting workers is not optional. It is a moral responsibility. If we are good enough to build the houses, clean the buildings, wash the cars, and pick the food, then we are good enough to be protected while we do it,” said Tony Pineda, Advisor for the Josefina Ahumada Worker Center and We Rise! Worker Leader with the National Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH). “We are not asking for anything extravagant. We are asking for water, shade, rest, and respect. We are asking for training and real protections, so we do not have to risk our lives every time we go to work,” he added.
More than 30 organizations signed a public letter addressed to Governor Hobbs and the Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA) urging the need for an enforceable state OSHA heat standard to ensure Arizona workers have basic human rights protections from extreme heat. The letter highlighted evidence that enforceable standards dramatically reduce workplace heat deaths even as workers face longer, hotter heat seasons. Fourteen state lawmakers also signed the letter, including State Representative Mariana Sandoval, who spoke about the need for statewide action at the event.
Last month, Governor Hobbs issued an executive order directing the ICA to appoint a Workplace Heat Advisory Task Force to develop suggested heat safety guidelines for employers. Speakers at Tuesday’s rally urged the Task Force to move beyond guidelines.
“This is not just a climate crisis, it’s a power crisis -- which is why we see that Latinx workers are three times more likely to die from heat stress,” said Alexis Delgado Garcia, Executive Director at Agave Community Threads (ACT) and Arizona Heat Standards Coalition steering committee member. “Seven other U.S. states have adopted enforceable standards to protect workers from heat. It's well past time for Arizona to do the same.”
Event organizers emphasized that Arizona workers face some of the highest temperatures and the greatest number of high-heat days in the country. They also highlighted an increasingly urgent need to provide enhanced retaliation protection to immigrant workers, who are concentrated in industries with the highest heat risk, like construction and agriculture.
About the Author
Stasia DeMarco is the Content Editor for OH&S.