by Warren Tennyson Wed, June 18, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Updated Wed, June 18, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Las Vegas (KSNV) — As record-breaking heat waves continue to sweep across the nation, Nevada organizations are spearheading efforts during Heat Week to demand urgent federal protections for workers exposed to extreme temperatures.
Make the Road Nevada, Chispa Nevada, and the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition (NEJC) are leading the charge in the state.
Heat Week, launched on June 16, 2025, coincides with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) public hearing on a long-overdue federal heat protection rule.
The initiative unites organizers, laborers, and environmental justice advocates nationwide to call for immediate, life-saving standards.
In Nevada, where summer temperatures often exceed 110 degrees, outdoor workers in construction, agriculture, delivery, and landscaping—as well as indoor warehouse workers—face severe heat stress without federal guarantees of water, rest, or shade. In 2024, 526 Nevadans died in Clark County alone due to heat-related causes, underscoring the deadly nature of extreme heat.
Jackie Spicer, Coalition Coordinator with the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition, emphasized the urgency of the situation. “The fight for workers’ rights is the fight for climate justice. In Nevada, our outdoor workers face the worst impacts of climate change when their health and lives are put at risk just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table for their families,” said Spicer. “We need federal heat protections that will adequately protect workers and not diminish the standards we’ve fought for in our state. We have to do everything in our power to keep each other safe.”
