New York City Executive Order Signals Forthcoming Heat Illness Requirements For Employers

Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 22, 2026, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed Executive Order No. 17, Protecting Workers from Extreme Heat. The Executive Order, which took effect immediately, does not, standing alone, create a new private-sector heat standard. Instead, it directs City agencies to develop multilingual heat illness prevention guidance, adopt heat illness prevention plans for municipal employees and contractors, review construction safety requirements, study heat-related workers’ compensation claims and potential public health reporting requirements, and reinforce existing protections such as bathroom access and construction-incident reporting. Employers with operations in New York City should treat the Order as an important signal of where local workplace heat regulation and enforcement may be headed, particularly for construction, delivery, warehousing, and other roles with elevated heat exposure.

Background on Heat Illness Enforcement

Summer heat waves and employee exposure to heat (from high temperatures, humidity, sunlight, industrial sources, and metabolic heat from exercise) are growing areas of concern to OSHA agencies. Though no current federal OSHA regulations impose specific heat illness requirements for private-sector employers, all New York employers are governed by the OSH Act’s General Duty Clause, requiring employers to provide a workplace free from any recognized hazards. Federal OSHA has used the OSH Act’s General Duty Clause to cite and prosecute employers who fail to protect employers from occupational exposures to heat, particularly when recognized outdoor heat waves result in horrific employee fatalities. Federal OSHA has revised its National Emphasis Program to focus its enforcement on occupational exposure to indoor and outdoor heat. New York City employers whose employees are exposed to heat should implement heat illness prevention programs now to protect employees, or risk OSHA and other legal liabilities. 

New York City’s Initial Foray Into Local Heat Illness Regulation

Because federal OSHA’s heat illness regulations still in the rule-making process, New York City has joined the growing list of local jurisdictions moving forward with their own workplace heat illness protections. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Executive Order is premised on the City Department of Health’s finding that “hundreds of thousands of workers in New York City” are exposed to extreme heat while working on hot days, increasing the risk of heat-related illness and death. The Executive Order also recognizes that heat stress can increase the risk of workplace injury more broadly, reduce productivity, and place pressure on workers who lack paid breaks, reliable restroom access, or practical opportunities to hydrate during the workday.

The Executive Order identifies several worker populations as examples of those facing heat-related risk, including construction workers, street vendors, and app-based delivery workers, day laborers, and other gig workers. It notes that roughly one-third of the City’s working population are believed to work outdoors for prolonged periods of time. The Executive Order ties these concerns to climate trends, including the City’s projection [YAR1] that by the 2050s, New York City could experience more than four times as many heat waves each year compared to current rates.

What the Executive Order Requires

Rather than create a comprehensive set of new regulations that private employers must follow, the Executive Order directs the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (“DOHMH”), in coordination with other New York City departments, to develop worker heat illness prevention guidance and educational materials. Those materials must recommend best practices to prevent heat-related illnesses, injuries, and deaths for employees in both outdoor and indoor worksites. The guidance must be available in languages commonly spoken by workers in New York City. Outdoor worker guidance is to be prepared as soon as practicable. Indoor worker guidance must be prepared by March 1, 2027.

The Executive Order further directs the Department of Buildings (“DOB”) to review current construction safety and training requirements to determine whether existing requirements sufficiently protect against worker heat illness. DOB is directed to consult with relevant worker organizations and may issue recommendations for new construction safety and training guidance. Those recommendations are also due by March 1, 2027.

In addition, the Executive Order requires all agencies to develop and implement indoor and outdoor worker heat illness plans for City employees and contractors when the City’s Heat Emergency Plan is activated. Agencies must consider revised DOHMH guidance when developing and implementing those plans. Separately, when the Heat Emergency Plan is activated, the New York City Emergency Management must communicate worker heat illness prevention information based on forecasted temperatures, including recommendations for employers based on the new guidance.

The Executive Order directs DOHMH to review heat-related workers’ compensation claims filed with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board by City employees to evaluate patterns related to temperature, including excess risk during hot weather. DOHMH also must study whether heat-related illnesses should be added to the City’s list of Diseases and Conditions of Public Health Interest reportable under section 11.03 of the New York City Health Code. The study must consider whether reports should include the location of employment and the identity of the employer. If DOHMH determines that reporting would serve the public health interest, the Commissioner of Health may propose amendments to the Health Code.

Finally, during times of high heat, DOB must notify and remind property owners, contractors, subcontractors, and others in control of construction sites of existing obligations to report heat-related incidents when a worker requires emergency medical services transport or immediate emergency care. City agencies with jurisdiction over worker protection measures are directed to strictly enforce rules intended to increase public bathroom access for outdoor workers, including the New York City Administrative Code provision granting food delivery workers the right to use the bathroom of restaurants for which they make deliveries. City agencies also must include information about bathrooms, Cooling Centers, Parks Department cooling locations, water features, drinking fountains, and shaded locations in messaging to workers.

What the Executive Order Does Not Do

The Executive Order is not a standalone occupational heat standard imposing immediate requirements for private employers. There is no new requirement to provide water, shade, rest breaks, acclimatization, training, or written heat illness prevention plans. Rather, the Executive Order directs City agencies to develop guidance, evaluate existing requirements, communicate heat safety information, enforce certain existing rules, and consider future regulatory action.

At the same time, employers should not dismiss the Order as symbolic. The decisions and guidance arising out of the Executive Order could become the foundation for more specific rules, procurement expectations, enforcement, or local standards of care.

Employer Takeaways

Employers with New York City operations, particularly those with outdoor, transportation, warehouse, or other heat-exposed workforces, should monitor the City’s follow-on guidance and agency action closely. Construction employers should pay particular attention to DOB’s review and recommendations issued before the March 1, 2027 deadline. Employers that contract with City agencies should also evaluate whether municipal heat illness prevention plans may flow down through contract terms, site rules, or agency-specific work requirements.

Even before additional guidance is issued, employers should review existing heat illness prevention plans. A practical review should address access to cool drinking water, rest and recovery opportunities, shade or cooling areas where feasible, acclimatization for new or returning workers, training for supervisors and employees, emergency response procedures, heat index or temperature monitoring, and documentation of heat-related controls and communications. For multilingual workforces, employers should also evaluate whether heat safety information is being delivered in languages workers actually understand.

The Executive Order also arrives against the backdrop of heightened federal and state attention to heat illness prevention. OSHA has proposed a heat-specific rule for indoor and outdoor work settings. In the interim, OSHA continues to rely on the General Duty Clause and its heat-related national emphasis program enforcement initiatives to inspect and cite employers for heat hazards. New York City’s Executive Order is another data point in a broader trend toward more prescriptive heat illness prevention expectations.

Practical Checklist for Employers

• Conduct job hazard analyses to identify job tasks with outdoor or indoor heat exposure, including nontraditional or contractor workforces.
• Develop and implement heat illness prevention plan to protect employees.
• Review water, rest, shade, cooling, acclimatization, and emergency response practices.
• Train employees, ensuring that employees and supervisors understand how to recognize and respond to heat-related illness.
• Assess whether heat safety communications are available in languages commonly understood by the workforce.
• Monitor New York City agency guidance, DOB construction recommendations, and any Health Code reporting proposal.