A report by the National Occupational Safety and Health Council raises the alarm about increased heat-related workplace risks as the construction industry enters “the most dangerous time of the year for heat exposure.”
The 2026 Dirty Dozen report, released during Workers’ Memorial Week, noting those who have died or suffered work-related injuries and illnesses, says it has identified 12 companies that “put workers’ lives at risk through unsafe practices, inadequate protections and systemic negligence.” They include homebuilder DR Horton and Massachusetts contractor Revoli Construction, which faces a $4.6 million fine after a deadly trench collapse.
According to the council, extreme heat adds an additional layer of complexity to workplace risks and the need for stronger safety enforcement, with nearly 28,000 hot weather-related workplace injuries per year, according to the report.
“The Dirty Dozen 2026 makes clear that these tragedies are not accidents, they are the result of choices,” Council Executive Director Jessica E. Martinez said in announcing the report. “Employers must be held accountable and workers must be empowered to speak up without fear.”
Increased heat protections
At the federal level, the Council is also seeking greater accountability from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration amid a 47 percent drop in federal workplace health and safety penalties by 2025, according to a report by Good Jobs First, citing complex outsourcing systems that allow companies to evade responsibility.
OSHA first proposed a national heat standard in 2024, during the Biden administration. Although the public comment period closed in 2025, the agency has yet to finalize the rule. OSHA extended its 2022 national emphasis program for outdoor and heat-related hazards through 2031, two days after it expired on April 8.
But Martinez says expanding the heat stress program is an inadequate solution because it lacks the weight that an enforcement program would provide and will leave millions of workers without guaranteed protections.
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“This directive weakens OSHA’s ability to proactively identify hazardous conditions and shifts responsibility to employers, where we know that too often safety is treated as optional,” he told ENR.
Without a strong, enforceable standard, “basic protections like water, shade, rest and acclimatization are still not guaranteed,” Martinez said, adding, “As extreme heat intensifies, workers are being asked to rely on a system that is not sufficient. OSHA must go beyond temporary measures and provide a permanent standard that truly protects workers’ lives.”
The Revised Emphasis Program removed 46 industries from its heat inspection guidelines, but added 22 new ones, keeping the list of target industries OSHA considers most risky at 55. include ggeneral freight and logistics, plastic manufacturing, animal slaughter and processing, scheduled air transportation, large warehouses, community food and housing services, individual and family services, and telecommunications carriers.
Although there is no official federal law or rule requiring employers to protect workers from extreme heat, the Emphasis Program Directive allows OSHA toproactively inspect high-risk workplaces to prevent heat-related illnesses, injuries and deaths, according to the agency, which says it can issue heat citations under their general duty clause, even when not on a heat-related inspection.
OSHA began the rulemaking process to consider a heat-specific workplace standard in 2021 by publishing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking for the prevention of heat injuries and illnesses in outdoor and indoor work environments in the Federal Register.
The emphasis program directive uses OSHA and US Bureau of Labor Statistics data from calendar years 2022-2025 to establish its inspection priorities. According to the Bureau of fatal occupational accidents census, environmental heat exposure killed 999 workers in the US bbetween 1992 and 2021. However, the OSHA warns that heat-related illnesses are widely underreported due to diagnostic problems and inconsistent reporting.
