"California is crafting weaker heat protections for prisons than for other workplaces, citing billions in costs to cool aging institutions as climate and health risks increase."
"As Californians have weathered relentless heat waves, state workplace safety regulators have repeatedly reminded employers to protect employees from heat illness by providing water, shade, cooldown areas, and additional rest breaks when temperatures climb.
But there’s a notable exception to the state’s heat safety rules: the nurses, guards, staff, and tens of thousands of incarcerated people who work in California’s aging correctional facilities that are largely not air-conditioned.
In 2024, California adopted landmark rules intended to protect more than 1 million workers who toil in sweltering warehouses, kitchens, factories, and other indoor workplaces. But the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board exempted prisons and local government detention and juvenile facilities after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration warned the rules could cost the state billions."
Erin Rode reports for Capital & Main in collaboration with KFF Health News, September 17, 2026.
