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The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) today applauded the introduction of the Heat Workforce Standards Act of 2025 by Rep. Mark Messmer (R-IN). The legislation would repeal the Biden Administration’s pending OSHA heat standard, which proposes a uniform national framework governing heat exposure across all industries, climates, and business models.
NLBMDA has been at the forefront of raising concerns about the proposed rule, emphasizing that the one-size-fits-all approach would impose disproportionate compliance burdens on small businesses and LBM dealers, many of whom already maintain effective heat safety protocols tailored to their operations. In formal comments filed with OSHA earlier this year, NLBMDA underscored that the rule’s rigid structure lacks the necessary flexibility to account for regional climate differences, existing employer practices, and the operational realities of small, multi-site building material dealers.
“LBM dealers are deeply committed to protecting their employees, and many have long-established measures to manage heat exposure safely and responsibly,” said Jonathan Paine, President & CEO of NLBMDA. “However, OSHA’s proposed heat rule would create sweeping mandates, extensive paperwork requirements, and costly new obligations without recognizing the effective systems already in place. We appreciate Rep. Messmer’s leadership in promoting regulatory approaches that recognize downstream impacts and avoids unnecessary administrative burdens for LBM dealers.”
In our rulemaking comments, NLBMDA outlined several key concerns addressed by the Heat Workforce Standards Act, including:
- Lack of flexibility for employers to tailor heat-safety programs to their specific workforce, geography, and business model;
- A uniform national temperature threshold that fails to account for regional variation and worker acclimatization;
- Significant new recordkeeping and monitoring requirements, which would impose substantial administrative and financial burdens on LBM dealers;
- Duplication of existing federal and state safety requirements, including OSHA’s General Duty Clause and National Emphasis Program on heat safety.
NLBMDA supports policies that enhance worker protection while ensuring regulatory frameworks remain practical, scalable, and reflective of real-world workplace conditions. The Heat Workforce Standards Act represents an important step toward preventing unworkable mandates from taking effect and ensuring future heat-safety initiatives are shaped by stakeholder input.
NLBMDA looks forward to working with Congress to advance this legislation and remains committed to engaging with policymakers and regulators on solutions that safeguard workers while ensuring minimal administrative impacts on small businesses across the lumber and building materials industry.
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