Bill stops federal heat-safety rules for workers

What it does

This bill stops the Secretary of Labor from finishing OSHA's heat-injury prevention standard. The standard was published in August 2024. It would have required employers to protect workers from heat illness and death. The bill blocks this protection for outdoor and indoor work.

Who it affects

Workers lose federal rules that would make employers protect them from heat illness. Heat-related injuries and deaths happen at work. Workers in states without their own heat-safety laws have no required employer protections.

One thing to notice

The bill blocks the August 2024 standard and any similar future standard. OSHA cannot make new heat-safety rules without Congress passing a new law.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

68 cosponsors: 68 Republicans.

• Nov 20, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Nov 20, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
• Jul 21, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jul 21, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 18 - 15”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

6 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 8 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $3,834,938 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 23 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 82% of bills with any report.

Mark Messmer, who sponsored the bill, received $465,500 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Nfib (national Federation of Independent Business) — $1,670,000 in 1 report
• National Restaurant Association — $1,620,000 in 2 reports
• Associated General Contractors of America — $216,377 in 1 report
• National Association of Letter Carriers — $140,000 in 1 report
• University of Rochester — $108,561 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• OSHA — The federal agency that sets workplace safety and health rules.
• heat-injury prevention standard — A federal rule requiring employers to protect workers from extreme heat.
• Secretary of Labor — The head of the federal department that oversees workplace rules.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.