C.R.S. § 8-14.4-101.5: Worker protection - extreme temperatures - temperature-related injury and illness prevention plan - legislative declaration - rules.

(1) Legislative declaration. The general assembly finds and declares that:

(a) Climate change is exacerbating the effects of extreme weather events, including extreme heat, extreme cold, drought, and wildfire in Colorado;

(b) Since 2011, Colorado has made it a priority to track temperature-related injury and illness and to ensure Coloradans are aware of the risks of exposure to extreme heat and extreme cold;

(c) In 2024, Colorado's largest workers' compensation insurer has indicated that indoor and outdoor workers in the state are fifty-two percent more likely to experience injury during extreme temperature events;

(d) Since 2021, federal experts at the United States department of labor have recognized that workers working in extreme temperatures need additional protections, and the occupational safety and health administration has asserted that exposure to extreme temperatures in the workplace poses a significant risk of serious injury and illness;

(e) The state's economy depends on the labor of workers across many sectors and industries who are routinely exposed to dangerous working conditions, including extreme heat, extreme cold, and other environmental hazards that may threaten their health, safety, and lives. The risks these workers face increase as outdoor temperatures become more volatile, and workers who are exposed to prolonged heat or cold sometimes suffer preventable injuries, illnesses, and deaths.

(f) The state's current protections are inadequate to protect workers exposed to extreme temperatures at worksites. Existing workplace standards do not require comprehensive prevention plans; do not guarantee access to potable drinking water, shade, or cool-down or warm-up areas; and do not establish procedures for monitoring temperatures, adjusting work practices during extreme heat or extreme cold, or protecting newly hired or returning workers who are not acclimatized. As a result, many workers continue to face unsafe conditions without enforceable safeguards.

(g) The absence of consistent statewide standards creates unequal protections across industries and regions, leaving the most vulnerable workers, including those who work in low-paying positions, at the greatest risk of harm. These workers often face additional barriers, such as fear of retaliation, limited access to complaint systems or reporting, and a lack of accessible information in a language they understand. These barriers contribute to underreporting of dangerous conditions and prevent timely intervention.

(h) Requiring principals to adopt clear, proactive measures, including monitoring and recording temperature conditions, providing potable drinking water and rest breaks, ensuring access to shade or shelter, developing written prevention and response plans, and adequately training workers, is necessary to reduce temperature-related injuries and illnesses in the state. The state should require protections that are practical, evidence-based, and achievable for employers of all sizes.

(i) Protecting workers from extreme temperatures is a matter of public health and safety and economic stability. Ensuring safer working conditions across industries will reduce preventable medical emergencies, support workforce retention and productivity, and promote fairness for principals that already comply with high safety standards.

(j) Establishing statewide enforceable protections for workers exposed to extreme temperatures is necessary to safeguard the state's workforce, strengthen families and communities, and uphold the state's responsibility to ensure that workers can perform their duties without risking their health, their safety, or their lives.

(2) Data collection - model temperature-related injury and illness prevention plan.

(a) On or before January 15, 2027, the division shall:

(I) Develop a platform on the department's website where users can provide information about occurrences of temperature-related injury or illness or temperature-related emergencies at worksites in the state;

(II) Obtain data from the department of public health and environment using the department of public health and environment's current syndromic surveillance program, or a successor program, to track occurrences of heat-related injury or illness or heat-related emergencies at worksites in the state; and

(III) Begin working with:

(A) The division of workers' compensation to periodically, and at least twice annually, collect information concerning claims for workers' compensation that involve temperature-related injury or illness or temperature-related emergencies; and

(B) The Center for Improving Value in Health Care, or a successor organization, to periodically, and at least twice annually, collect information concerning occurrences of temperature-related injury or illness or temperature-related emergencies at worksites in the state.

(b) (I) On or before July 1, 2028, the division shall develop a model TRIIPP that includes written procedures for:

(A) Providing workers access to cool, potable drinking water at no cost;

(B) Providing workers access to cool-down or warm-up rest areas;

(C) Monitoring workplace temperature conditions;

(D) Acclimatizing new or returning workers during their first fourteen days of assignment;

(E) Training workers to recognize signs and symptoms of temperature-related injury and illness;

(F) Responding to temperature-related medical emergencies; and

(G) Other components and exemptions as necessary.

(II) The division may incorporate by reference and adapt established TRIIPP models.

(III) The division may adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

(IV) The division shall ensure the model TRIIPP is available on the department's website in a format that can be viewed or downloaded.

(V) The division shall review and update the model TRIIPP as necessary and not less than every five years.