SB288 • 2026

Protection of employees; standards for heat illness prevention, report.

An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 40.1-44.2, relating to protection of employees; standards for heat illness prevention.

Healthcare Labor

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Aird
Last action: 2026-04-13
Official status: Acts of Assembly Chapter
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Protection for Workers from Heat Illness

This act requires Virginia's Safety and Health Codes Board to create rules that protect workers from heat illness, including providing water, shade or cool places when possible, rest breaks, acclimatization to hot conditions, and training on preventing heat illnesses.

What This Bill Does

Requires the Safety and Health Codes Board to make rules protecting workers from heat illness during indoor and outdoor work.
Directs employers to provide water, access to shade or cool places when possible, rest breaks, acclimatization to hot conditions, and training on preventing heat illnesses.
Exempts emergency services personnel and short-term heat exposure lasting no longer than 15 minutes from these rules.
Requires the Board to work with the Department of Labor and Industry to develop detailed regulations for heat illness prevention by May 1, 2028.

Who It Names or Affects

Workers who are exposed to hot conditions during their jobs.
Employers who have control over worksite conditions.
The Safety and Health Codes Board responsible for creating the rules.

Terms To Know

Heat illness: A serious medical condition caused by working in hot environments, including heat cramps, heat rash, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.
Acclimatization: The process of getting used to working in hot conditions over time.

Limits and Unknowns

Does not specify the exact details of how employers must protect workers from heat illness, leaving that up to future regulations.
Exempts certain emergency services and short-term heat exposure from these rules.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

SB288AC

2026-03-13 • Conference

Conference Report

Plain English: The amendment recommends rejecting a previous version of the bill and accepting a new version to address heat illness prevention standards for employees.

Rejects the previously proposed House Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26108468D).
Accepts a new Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26109847D) to resolve disagreements.

The official amendment text does not provide details about the specific changes made in the new substitute amendment, making it unclear what concrete changes will be implemented for heat illness prevention standards.

SB288S3

2026-03-13 • Conference

Conference Report Substitute

Plain English: The amendment adds a new section to Virginia law that requires employers to protect workers from heat illness by providing water, shade or climate-controlled environments, rest periods, training, and emergency response procedures.

Adds requirements for employers to provide water, access to shade or climate-controlled areas, rest periods, acclimatization training, and emergency response plans.
Establishes exemptions for certain types of emergency services and short-term heat exposure lasting no longer than 15 minutes.

The specific details of the regulations are not fully defined in this amendment text and will be developed later by the Safety and Health Codes Board.

Bill History

2026-04-13 Governor
Approved by Governor-Chapter 732 (effective 7/1/2026)
2026-04-13 Governor
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0732)
2026-04-02 Senate
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB288)
2026-03-31 Senate
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026
2026-03-31 Governor
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
2026-03-31 House
Signed by Speaker
2026-03-31 Senate
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026
2026-03-31 Governor
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
2026-03-30 Senate
Signed by President
2026-03-30 Senate
Enrolled
2026-03-30 Senate
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB288ER)
2026-03-20 Senate
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB288)
2026-03-13 Conference
Conference Report released
2026-03-13 Conference
Conference Report released
2026-03-13 House
Conference report agreed to by House (62-Y 33-N 0-A)
2026-03-13 Senate
Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A)
2026-03-12 House
Conferees appointed by House
2026-03-12 House
House Conferees: Hernandez, Ward, Oates
2026-03-06 Senate
Conferees appointed by Senate
2026-03-06 Senate
Senate Conferees: Aird, Surovell, McDougle
2026-03-06 Senate
Conferees appointed by Senate
2026-03-06 Senate
Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-03-04 House
House insisted on substitute
2026-03-04 House
House requested conference committee
2026-03-03 Senate
House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A)
2026-02-27 House
Read third time
2026-02-27 House
committee substitute agreed to
2026-02-27 House
Engrossed by House - committee substitute
2026-02-27 House
Passed House with substitute (61-Y 34-N 0-A)
2026-02-26 House
Read second time
2026-02-25 Labor and Commerce
Committee substitute printed 26108468D-H1
2026-02-25 Labor and Commerce
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB288)
2026-02-24 Labor and Commerce
Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (15-Y 6-N)
2026-02-18 House
Placed on Calendar
2026-02-18 House
Read first time
2026-02-18 Labor and Commerce
Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce
2026-02-16 Finance and Appropriations
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB288)
2026-02-13 Senate
Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A)
2026-02-12 Senate
Read second time
2026-02-12 Senate
Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote)
2026-02-12 Commerce and Labor
Committee substitute rejected (Voice Vote)
2026-02-12 Finance and Appropriations
Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote)
2026-02-12 Senate
Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
2026-02-11 Senate
Rules suspended
2026-02-11 Senate
Passed by for the day
2026-02-11 Finance and Appropriations
Committee substitute printed 26107621D-S2
2026-02-11 Senate
Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-02-11 Senate
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
2026-02-10 Finance and Appropriations
Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (10-Y 5-N)
2026-02-03 Commerce and Labor
Committee substitute printed 26106889D-S1
2026-02-02 Commerce and Labor
Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (8-Y 6-N 1-A)
2026-02-02 Senate
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB288)
2026-02-02 Senate
Senate committee offered
2026-01-13 Senate
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26105398D
2026-01-13 Commerce and Labor
Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor

Official Summary Text

Protection of employees; standards for heat illness prevention; Safety and Health Codes Board.
Requires the Safety and Health Codes Board (the Board) to adopt regulations designed to protect workers from heat illness, as defined in the bill, during indoor and outdoor work. The bill provides that such regulations shall be enforced by the Board's existing authority. The bill directs the Board, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry, to develop and adopt regulations that require employers to implement heat illness prevention plans and to convene an advisory panel to assist in developing such regulations. This bill is identical to HB 1092.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered
40.1-44.2
, relating to protection of employees; standards for heat illness prevention.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered
40.1-44.2
as follows:
§
40.1-44.2
. Standards for heat illness prevention.
A. As used in this section:
"Board" means the Safety and Health Codes Board.
"Employer" means any employer subject to jurisdiction of the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program under 16VAC25-60.
"Heat illness" means a serious medical condition resulting from the body's inability to cope with a particular heat load and includes heat cramps, heat rash, heat edema, heat exhaustion, heat syncope, rhabdomyolysis, and heat stroke.
"Worker" means an employee, independent contractor, or other laborer whose worksite conditions are controlled by an employer.
B. The Board shall adopt regulations establishing standards designed to protect workers from heat illness during indoor and outdoor work. Such standards shall include requirements for each employer to (i) provide water, access to shade or climate-controlled environments when practicable, rest periods, acclimatization to working in heat, and effective training regarding heat illness prevention; (ii) implement heat and high-heat procedures when the temperature equals or exceeds heat thresholds set by the Board; and (iii) establish effective emergency response procedures. There shall be exemptions for (a) heat exposure during the provision of emergency services that involve emergency law enforcement, emergency medical services, firefighting services, rescue and evacuation operations, emergency highway construction or maintenance, or emergency restoration of essential utilities, including electric and telecommunication utilities, and (b) heat exposure lasting no longer than 15 consecutive minutes.
C. The regulations adopted by the Board pursuant to this section shall be enforced as specified in §§
40.1-49.3
through
40.1-49.7
.
2. That no later than May 1, 2028, the Safety and Health Codes Board (the Board), in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry, shall develop and adopt regulations that require employers to implement heat illness prevention plans pursuant to §
40.1-44.2
of the Code of Virginia, as created by this act. In developing such regulations, the Board shall consider the 2021 Draft Heat Illness Prevention Standard of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry and standards created by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, the American National Standards Institute, the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Division, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division, and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The Board shall also convene an advisory panel to assist in developing such regulations, which shall include (i) employee advocates and stakeholders as at least half of its membership and (ii) stakeholders from the agriculture and business industries and public institutions of higher education.