As the US prepares for what could be another record-breaking hot summer, Donald Trump and his pick to lead the nation’s workplace safety agency are expected to derail the creation of the nation’s first-ever federal labor protections from extreme heat.
Trump in February nominated David Keeling to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha). Keeling formerly served as an executive at the United Parcel Service (UPS) and Amazon – both of which have faced citations from Osha for worker injuries and deaths amid heat exposure. The companies deny the deaths were heat-related.
Under Keeling, Osha is expected to thwart heat protections. After years of pressure from organized labor, the agency in 2021 began working to create a federal heat standard, and last year rolled out a draft rule aimed at requiring access to water, shade, breaks and training which the Biden administration estimated would protect 36 million workers.
But corporations have pushed to gut the rules, and there are concerns among safety advocates and some workers that Keeling could help them do so.
Seth Pacic, a UPS delivery driver and union steward in Dallas, Texas, who has experienced heat exhaustion on the job, said he feared “any meaningful policy to combat heat injuries will be put on hold while he holds the position”.
Keeling served as the vice-president of global health and safety at UPS from 2018 to 2021, and as the director of road and transportation safety at Amazon from 2021 to 2023. Both companies have faced backlash for heat-related workplace incidents.
A recent review of federal records by investigative outlet the Lever found that during Keeling’s tenure, Osha fined the two companies a combined $2m for more than 300 workplace safety citations, including for heat-related incidents.
In the past decade, more than 170 UPS workers have been hospitalized due to heat exposure, including more than 50 during Keeling’s tenure. And at Amazon and UPS, at least seven workers died after extreme heat exposure in recent years with at least three of those deaths occurring when Keeling was at the companies. Both companies denied any of the deaths were both heat-related and job-related.
“These are companies that are known to be not that great when it comes to dealing with extreme heat,” said Juley Fulcher, a worker health and safety advocate at consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen.
Reached for comment, Courtney Parella, the spokesperson for the Department of Labor, Osha’s parent agency, said: “Osha’s mission to protect workers’ health and safety remains a clear priority for this administration. David Keeling was nominated to advance that mission and engage stakeholders thoughtfully on policy and rulemaking decisions.”
Both UPS and Amazon defended their heat policies. Amazon has said its practices meet state and federal requirements and, in some cases, go beyond them. UPS has said it has comprehensive training and protocols to support employees which it is continuously working to improve.
“At UPS, we focus on safety every day and always look for ways to improve. Over the past five years, we’ve invested more than 33m hours and nearly $2bn on safety training,” said Becca Hunnicutt, a spokesperson for UPS. “We report all recordable injuries to Osha and train our employees to seek immediate treatment if they recognize or report any signs or symptoms of heat stress.”
She added that the company supplies materials including water, ice and electrolytes to employees and has partnered with various firms to train them on heat safety and provide them with cooling fabrics.
Sam Stephenson, Amazon spokesperson, said: “We take the health and safety of our employees incredibly seriously … For example, all of our fulfillment centers have climate-controlled systems that are monitored throughout the day; all of our Amazon branded delivery vehicles have air conditioning; and we’ve invested $59m to insulate our vans to help reduce the internal temperatures for our delivery partners.”
He said the recent Lever reporting “oversimplifies complex issues and provides broad generalizations in an effort to purposefully mislead its readers”.
“The fact is, Amazon has not been cited for any heat-related deaths,” he said. “Safety is our top priority across all our operations and any implication, stated or otherwise, is false.” Though Osha did cite Amazon for heat-related conditions, he said the company has appealed.
In previous statements both UPS and Amazon have defended their heat policies. Amazon has said its practices meet state and federal requirements and, in some cases, go beyond them. UPS has said it has comprehensive training and protocols to support employees which it is continuously working to improve.
Keeling said he was unable to comment for the piece until he is confirmed by the Senate. In a 2021 op-ed, he wrote that he began his work at UPS in 1985 as a package handler – a role which showed him the importance of “safety and wellness”, as well as “sleep and hydration”. That experience informed his work as a safety executive, he wrote, encouraging him to “seek out the input and perspective of frontline employees”.
The Teamsters union, which represents UPS employees and some Amazon workers, endorsed Keeling’s nomination over dissent from some members of the rank and file.
Heat protections
Federal health and safety experts first recommended Osha create a national heat standard more than 50 years ago. In the intervening years, US summers have warmed significantly due to the climate crisis.
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The Department of Labor estimates that more than 400 US workers died from heat-related causes between 2011 and 2021. Many experts believe that to be a vast understatement; Public Citizen estimates the true number is up to 2,000 a year, with an additional 170,000 heat-related injuries and illnesses annually.
A federal heat standard, experts say, could drastically decrease those numbers. But Osha is under no obligation to finalize the rule under Trump.
“They could put it on a shelf and say, we’re just not going to do anything with this,” said Fulcher.
Recent cuts to regulatory staff at Osha could make it difficult for the agency to finalize a rule “even if they wanted to”, said Jordan Barab, former deputy assistant secretary of labor at Osha from 2009 to 2017. But if it musters up the ability to work on the rule, the agency could gut it, Barab said.
Corporations, including UPS, have spent millions lobbying against the standard. In public comments to Osha on the 2024 draft rule, many companies contested provisions that would mandate breaks for workers, trigger certain protections when the temperature crosses 80F and 90F, and require that new and returning workers face limited heat exposure.
A weakened final rule could also exempt certain workers and workplaces, Barab said.
Osha will host a public hearing on the federal heat standard next month.
Confirmation pending
Keeling’s confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled. During Trump’s first term, the Senate never brought his nominee for Osha head up for a vote.
If given the opportunity, Senators should press the nominee on potential “favoritism” toward UPS and Amazon, said Fulcher.
“There’s always a potential question about conflict when someone is regulating companies where they worked,” she said. “And these are two huge, massive companies that employ hundreds of thousands of people and are going to certainly be the subject of a lot of complaints.”
Senators should ask Keeling questions “with workers in mind”, said Antoine Andrews, who has worked at UPS in Brooklyn, New York, for 29 years.
“I hope they think of the hardworking people getting up every day to support themselves and their loved ones and keep the country running,” said Andrews, who also serves as a union steward.
“We need people who are going to protect workers from the crisis of heat,” Andrews said. “But Keeling? We’re afraid he will be biased in the other direction.”
