OSHA's Heat National Emphasis Program expired on April 8, 2026. Two days later, on April 10, OSHA issued a revised NEP that runs through April 2031. That five-year horizon is the clearest signal yet about how federal heat enforcement will work for the rest of this decade: through inspections under the emphasis program, not through the long-promised heat standard.
The rule that did not arrive
The proposed federal Heat Injury and Illness Prevention standard was published in August 2024. Hearings ran through 2025, the post-hearing comment period closed in October 2025, and since then the docket has gone quiet, with no target date for final action. We covered the full status in Is there a federal OSHA heat standard? The short version: no, and not soon.
Renewing the enforcement program for five years while the rule sits is not a coincidence. It tells you where the compliance pressure will actually come from.
What the NEP means when it is 95 degrees
Under the NEP, OSHA does not wait for a complaint or an injury. Inspectors open heat inquiries during other programmed inspections when conditions warrant it, outdoor work around an 80 degree heat index gets attention, and days above 90 draw the most scrutiny. When an inspector asks about heat, they are looking for the recognized abatement methods:
- • Water available and actually being drunk, not just on the truck
- • Rest breaks and shade or cooling close to the work
- • Acclimatization for new workers and everyone during a heat wave
- • Training for crews and supervisors on symptoms and emergency response
- • Someone responsible for watching conditions and the crew
A citation without a heat standard runs through the General Duty Clause, and the employers who lose those cases are the ones with nothing on paper to point to.
Five states did not wait either
California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Maryland already require a written heat illness prevention plan, each with its own trigger temperatures. The state by state comparison has every rule and citation, and the heat rule checker tells you in ten seconds which one applies to your crew today.
What to do about it this week
If you work in one of the five rule states, the written plan is the law. Everywhere else, it is the abatement evidence that answers a General Duty Clause citation, and more GCs are asking for one in summer bid packages regardless of state. TailgateDocs generates a Heat Illness Prevention Plan matched to your state for $49, with the right triggers and citations, in about 4 minutes. Between now and September, it is the cheapest insurance on the truck.