OSHA's Revised Heat Enforcement Program: What It Means for California Contractors in 2026

On April 10, 2026, federal OSHA signed a revised National Emphasis Program for outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards, directive CPL 03-00-024. It replaces the original heat NEP from April 2022 and keeps a targeted heat enforcement program running for up to five more years. Since the announcement, I have fielded a handful of calls from California contractors asking what they need to change. The short answer for most of you is nothing new from this directive, because your heat obligations come from Cal/OSHA, not federal OSHA. But the details are worth understanding, both for contractors who work across state lines and for what this signals about where heat enforcement is heading.

What the Revised NEP Actually Does

A National Emphasis Program is an enforcement targeting tool. It tells OSHA area offices which hazards to prioritize, which industries to pull inspection lists from, and when to open inspections. The revised heat NEP continues the machinery the 2022 version built, with updated industry target lists and revised citation and program evaluation guidance.

The pieces that matter to employers:

Heat priority days trigger attention at 80 degrees. The directive defines a heat priority day as any day the heat index is expected to reach 80 degrees Fahrenheit or more. On those days, compliance officers who are already on a site for an unrelated inspection are directed to ask about the employer's heat illness prevention practices, and area offices assess where serious heat hazards may exist in indoor and outdoor work.

Programmed inspections happen on heat warning and advisory days. When the National Weather Service issues a heat warning or advisory for a local area, OSHA area offices run programmed inspections from targeted industry lists. Construction has its own target list in the directive, and area offices are instructed to identify active construction sites for heat inspections on those days. Compliance officers traveling between sites are also told to watch for crews in targeted industries working in the heat, which means a drive-by observation can become an inspection.

Any inspection can become a heat inspection. If a compliance officer on site for a fall protection complaint sees workers without water, shade, or acclimatization protections, or hears about heat problems from employees, the directive tells them to expand the inspection to cover heat.

Follow-up inspections and referrals feed the pipeline. Employers previously cited for heat hazards can expect follow-up visits, and the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division refers heat conditions it observes during its own investigations.

One more point of context. Federal OSHA still has no heat-specific standard in effect, so NEP citations at the federal level generally run through the General Duty Clause, which requires employers to keep workplaces free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm. A federal heat rule has been in the works through rulemaking, and the fact that OSHA renewed an enforcement emphasis program for up to five years tells you the agency expects to be enforcing heat protection with or without a finished standard.

Why California Contractors Answer to Cal/OSHA Instead

California runs its own OSHA-approved State Plan, which means Cal/OSHA, not federal OSHA, enforces workplace safety at private worksites in this state. The federal directive requires State Plans to file a notice of intent within 60 days saying whether they will adopt the NEP, already have an equivalent policy, or decline. Adoption is encouraged but not required, and the directive itself lists California among the states that already have their own heat standards.

California has more than an equivalent policy. It has the two most developed heat standards in the country:

Title 8, Section 3395 covers outdoor workplaces and has applied to construction for years. It requires a written heat illness prevention plan, drinking water, access to shade at 80 degrees, high heat procedures at 95 degrees, acclimatization protections, training, and emergency response procedures.

Title 8, Section 3396 covers indoor workplaces and generally applies when indoor temperatures reach 82 degrees, with additional requirements at higher temperatures and for work near radiant heat sources. For contractors, this reaches warehouse work, tenant improvements in unconditioned buildings, and similar indoor conditions.

So when a Cal/OSHA inspector shows up at your site on a hot day, they are enforcing specific, written requirements from Title 8, not a general duty argument. That is a higher bar than the federal NEP in practice, because the inspector does not need to build a recognized-hazard case. They check your written plan, your water, your shade, and your training records against the text of the standard. Cal/OSHA has also made heat a visible enforcement priority during summer heat events for years, so California contractors were living under emphasis-level heat scrutiny before the federal program existed.

I wrote a full breakdown of what Section 3395 requires and where contractors get cited in my post on Cal/OSHA heat illness prevention plan requirements for 2026. If your plan has not been reviewed since the indoor standard took effect, start there.

When the Federal NEP Still Touches a California Contractor

There are three situations where this directive deserves more than a shrug from a California contractor.

You work outside California. If you take projects in a state under federal OSHA jurisdiction, such as Texas or Florida, the NEP applies to that work directly. A heat advisory day in Dallas puts active construction sites on the inspection radar, and your Cal/OSHA-grade heat program will more than cover you if you run it there too.

You work on sites under federal jurisdiction. Certain federal enclaves and facilities inside California fall under federal OSHA rather than Cal/OSHA. Jurisdiction on these projects is worth confirming in your contract documents rather than assuming.

You care about where enforcement is heading. The renewal tells you heat enforcement is not a passing initiative at either level. When federal OSHA finalizes its heat standard, expect it to look a lot like what Sections 3395 and 3396 already require, which means California contractors who comply today are ahead of the national curve rather than behind it.

What I Would Check Before the Next Heat Wave

The practical to-do list for a California contractor in 2026 has nothing to do with the federal directive and everything to do with Title 8:

1. Confirm your written heat illness prevention plan exists, is site-specific, and covers both outdoor and indoor triggers.
2. Verify supervisors know the 80 degree and 95 degree thresholds and what changes at each.
3. Check your acclimatization procedures for new hires and crews returning after time away, because that first week is when workers die.
4. Pull your heat training records and make sure this season's crews are actually on them.
5. Fold heat into your Injury and Illness Prevention Program inspections so someone is checking water, shade, and procedures on a schedule instead of on memory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the federal heat NEP apply to my California construction company?

Not directly, for work at private sites inside California. Cal/OSHA enforces its own heat standards, Sections 3395 and 3396 of Title 8, which are more specific than the federal program. The NEP applies to your work in federal jurisdiction states and on certain federal sites.

What is a heat priority day under the 2026 NEP?

Any day the heat index is expected to reach 80 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. On those days, federal compliance officers ask about heat programs during inspections opened for other reasons, and NWS heat warnings or advisories trigger programmed inspections from targeted industry lists that include construction.

Is there a federal heat standard now?

No. As of this writing, federal OSHA enforces heat hazards primarily through the General Duty Clause while its proposed heat rule works through rulemaking. California, by contrast, has enforceable heat standards on the books today.

What temperature triggers Cal/OSHA heat requirements?

Outdoors, shade must be available at 80 degrees and high heat procedures start at 95. Indoors, requirements generally begin at 82 degrees. The written plan, water, training, and emergency procedures apply whenever employees are exposed to heat illness risk.

Get Your Heat Program Inspection-Ready

I review heat illness prevention plans for California contractors as part of my Fractional EHS program, which includes monthly training and a run inspection program so water, shade, and high heat procedures get checked on a schedule. If you want a second set of eyes on your plan before the next heat wave, book a call or reach me at 949-954-6581.