Extreme heat is killing construction workers, with at least four deaths occurring in New York state due to heat-related causes in 2024 alone.
With the state already experiencing several heat waves this year before the summer has gotten fully underway, projections show the city is only going to get hotter by midcentury. Most susceptible to heat-related injuries are the 1.4 million people in New York City who work outdoors for long periods of time, many of whom are immigrants of color.
To combat the growing crisis, Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an Executive Order on Monday to protect workers from the dangers of rising extreme heat.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in New York City history, the mayor is directing the Department of Buildings (DOB) to review and strengthen construction site heat safety requirements, with recommendations due to the mayor by March 1, 2027. The order also directs the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to strictly enforce existing labor protections for outdoor workers, including bathroom access and reporting requirements during periods of extreme heat.
Hoping to address the growing dangers of heat, which kill about 500 New Yorkers annually, the mayor is also requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the New York City Emergency Management, and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to develop multilingual heat safety educational materials that will be widely distributed among workers and employers. The materials for outdoor workers will be due by the end of 2026, with materials for indoor workers due by March 1, 2027.
Additionally, every mayoral agency will be required to develop and implement a heat illness prevention plan for all municipal employees and city contractors. The DOHMH will be required to study the relationship between extreme heat and workers’ compensation claims and evaluate whether heat illness should be designated a reportable health condition.
“No one should have to choose between their paycheck and their health,” said Mamdani in a statement shared exclusively with Documented. “The workers building our skyline, delivering our packages, and feeding our neighbors deserve to come home safe at the end of every shift and deserve a City government that will safeguard their health and well-being during extreme heat.”
The mayor’s executive order comes as a growing movement of workers has been organizing for protections against extreme heat. As Documented previously reported, airport workers at LaGuardia Airport have been organizing with the union 32BJ SEIU. One worker was allegedly retaliated against by his employer, Alliance Ground International (AGI), for requesting water during a heat wave.
Last year, when John Mosquera, a 26-year-old Dominican cargo worker at LaGuardia Airport, fainted on the job while working a 10-hour shift on a 98-degree day, his employer, AGI, sent him on break but failed to file a report.
Today, he is celebrating the mayor’s heat protection order:
“I’ve worked at LaGuardia Airport for years, and I can tell you the heat on that tarmac is no joke,” he said in a statement shared with Documented via the mayor’s office. “Today, Mayor Mamdani is paying attention, and that means everything to me and to workers like me across this city.”
Manny Pastreich, President of 32BJ SEIU, celebrated the signing of the executive order, framing it as a win for workers’ rights.
“AGI’s workers have spoken out about passing out in cargo holds, facing retaliation for asking for water, and being pressured to work quickly even when it’s hot. This is unacceptable,” he said in response to a question from Documented via email. “Today’s executive order is an important step to hold these employers accountable and to ensure that this city’s workers have the protections they need to stay safe and healthy on the job.”
Mamdani’s executive order also comes as efforts have stalled at the state level to pass the TEMP Act, which has been facing strong opposition from the agricultural industry. Introduced by State Senator Jessica Ramos in 2023, the bill would create workplace temperature protections across the state if passed, and mandate that employers provide employees with basic heat protections like water, shade, and air conditioning.
At the federal level, the Trump administration has rolled back federal heat protections for workers. While she served as Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor under the Biden Administration, Deputy Mayor Julie Su proposed a rule in 2024 that would require employers to develop an injury and illness prevention plan in workplaces affected by excessive heat.
纽约市儿童免费夏季活动指南
However, under the current presidential administration, efforts to finalize the rule have stalled. In April 2026, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reversed its previous directive to create a nationwide enforcement mechanism that allowed the agency to inspect high-risk worksites and work with them to prevent heat-related injuries.
Now, at City Hall, Deputy Mayor Su has the opportunity to finish what she started when she was in Washington.
“Worker protection is the foundation of everything this administration stands for,” she said in a statement from the mayor’s office to Documented. “Heat doesn’t discriminate, but its consequences do, falling hardest on the workers who already face the steepest climb. Today, we are making clear that the dignity of every worker in this city is worth protecting, whether they are building our skyline, delivering our packages, or stocking our shelves.”
