Oregon’s workplace safety agency says it will aggressively enforce new emergency requirements aimed at protecting workers from extreme heat as the state once again prepares for hot weather.

Temperatures in Portland could reach 99 degrees on Friday, according to the National Weather Service, with even hotter conditions expected elsewhere in the state. An excessive heat warning is in place from Roseburg to Ashland in Southern Oregon, where officials say temperatures could reach 106 degrees.

At least two Oregon workers died last month due to suspected heat-related illnesses after working through an unprecedented heat wave that shattered temperature records across the state. The state is investigating two other workplace deaths that occurred during the heat wave as possibly heat-related, and dozens more heat-related investigations from that stretch remain open.

In the wake of those deaths, Gov. Kate Brown directed the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health division, known as Oregon OSHA, to immediately adopt emergency rules to protect workers from extreme heat. Permanent rules, already in the works but delayed by the pandemic, are expected later this year.

The emergency rules require employers to provide sufficient water and shade to workers, grant workers 10-minute breaks every two hours once temperatures reach 90 degrees, monitor employees for signs of heat-related illnesses and conduct adequate training by Aug. 1 to provide employees and managers with information about heat-related illnesses.

Oregon OSHA will reassign inspectors and approve overtime to ensure that more enforcement officers are in the field on hot days, with a particular emphasis on enforcing safety in agriculture and construction, said Aaron Corvin, a spokesperson for the agency.

Oregon OSHA is also offering employers free consultations and educational resources to help them comply with the rules, Corvin said. The agency sent out an announcement Wednesday reminding employers of the regulations.

Ira Cuello-Martinez, the climate policy associate for PCUN, Oregon’s largest farmworkers union, said he is hopeful the new rules will help to better protect workers during hot days this summer, but said workers need the freedom to take even more frequent breaks than the state is mandating once temperatures reach 100 degrees.

He said PCUN is also lobbying the state to set up a disaster pay fund for workers who forgo work in extreme heat and asking it to require employers to suspend operations when temperatures reach hazardous levels.

“From our end, we do not think workers should put their health at risk when conditions become hazardous,” Cuello-Martinez said.

Oregon OSHA said it does not have the legal right to mandate that employers shut down operations. Liz Merah, a spokesperson for Gov. Kate Brown, said state lawmakers would need to grant Oregon OSHA that authority.

At the same time, workers have little recourse if they feel unsafe working in extreme heat. In many cases, employees can legally be fired for not showing up to work in extreme heat, unless they qualify for protected leave under Oregon’s sick leave law or reasonable accommodation under Oregon’s disability laws, said Cristin Casey, chief prosecutor for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.

Cuello-Martinez said the new extreme heat rules are a step in the right direction, but said they have to go hand-in-hand with stringent enforcement from Oregon OSHA to be effective.

Oregon OSHA received 109 complaints about unsafe working conditions due to heat from June 24 to June 30, before the emergency rules were in place, according to an analysis of Oregon OSHA data. The agency received additional complaints in July.

It has conducted 63 inspections in response to the heat-related complaints. Corvin said the agency has opted to resolve other complaints by contacting employers by letter or phone, but could conduct additional inspections if it isn’t satisfied with an employer’s response or it learns that an employer has not addressed concerns.

“With limited resources, we cannot conduct an on-site inspection of every complaint we receive,” Corvin said in an email. “We have to use our resources wisely. This includes evaluating the substance and specificity of complaints and engaging with employers at the outset about what they’re doing to address the alleged hazard.”

A June 27 complaint alleged that employees at the Dollar Tree in Damascus were prohibited from using fans or drinking water at their work stations even though the air conditioning unit inside the store was broken and temperatures were nearing 110 degrees.

A June 28 complaint alleged that employees at a Claim Jumper Restaurant in Tualatin weren’t granted adequate breaks and began feeling sick from the heat. It alleged that a manager locked a walk-in refrigerator after employees started using it to cool off.

Another June 28 complaint alleged that workers at a Les Schwab Tire Center in Clackamas were working 8-hour shifts with only one 30-minute break in an establishment without air conditioning. The complaint alleged that employees who tried to take additional breaks in an air-conditioned break room were reprimanded by a manager.

Those employers did not respond to a request for comment from The Oregonian. Oregon OSHA did not conduct inspections at those workplaces in response to the complaints, records provided to The Oregonian show.

Oregon OSHA has not cited any employers for heat-related violations stemming from the June heat wave. However, dozens of investigations related to possible heat-related violations remain open, including investigations into the deaths of four workers who worked during the heat wave.

Among the workers who died was Sebastian Francisco Perez, a Guatemalan immigrant who had only recently arrived in the U.S. to work at Ernst Nursery and Farms in St. Paul. Perez was found unresponsive in the field at the end of his June 26 shift after working on a crew moving irrigation lines. Temperatures in St. Paul reached 104 degrees that day.

Cuello-Martinez said he is hopeful that stipulations in the new emergency rules that require employers to maintain contact with employees and watch for heat-related symptoms once temperatures reach 90 degrees will prevent farmworkers from being left alone in the fields in extreme heat.

A Hillsboro construction worker also died after apparently succumbing to the heat while on the job June 28. The worker became ill and collapsed shortly after conducting a roofing inspection while working for Robinson Construction Co., according to Oregon OSHA. The employee died at a hospital 11 days later.

Oregon OSHA is also investigating a June 29 death at Holland’s Dairy in Klamath Falls and the death of a Walmart warehouse worker in Hermiston on June 24 as possibly heat-related.

Robert Camarillo, executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents 30 affiliated member unions in the construction industry, said many of the unionized members his organization represents have collective bargaining agreements that allow them to forgo work when temperatures reach hazardous levels.

But workers who aren’t protected by union contracts might not have the freedom to forgo work in extreme heat if their employers opt to continue operations.

“This should be a wake-up call to all of those contractors and developers who want to keep their job sites open,” Camarillo said. “The same goes for wildfire season. There’s a point where the air quality is not safe for people to be out there working. You pair that up for the physical demand of doing the jobs we do and that’s a recipe for a tragedy.”