Heat safety rules not upheld in fast-food industry, report finds

The season's most dangerous heat wave has arrived in Southern California, and yet many workplaces are not prepared.

- BY SUHAUNA HUSSAIN

AL SEIB For The Times.

THE STATE adopted regulations in 2024 to protect workers from heat illness. Above, a worker in Long Beach.

So says a new report by job safety advocacy nonprofit Worksafe that surveyed about 340 fast-food workers at roughly 200 chain restaurants across California.

The report, released this week, found that 58% of fast-food workers surveyed in July said they had worked in excessive heat in the last year. And nearly half, or 48%, reported experiencing heat illness symptoms including headaches, fatigue, dizziness, confusion, muscle pain or nausea.

A year ago, California adopted new safety regulations to protect more than a million workers laboring in warehouses, kitchens, laundry rooms and other hot indoor settings.

But the report, conducted in collaboration with the California Fast Food Workers Union, suggests that efforts to implement and enforce the new rules in kitchens have fallen short.