California Proposes Ending Prison Heat Rule Exemption as Temperatures Rise

The potentially record-shattering heat wave roasting California this week reminds Lawrence Cox of the people locked in suffocating state prison cells with no windows.

Temperatures inside aging prison buildings can climb much higher than outdoors, with little to no relief, said Cox, who was formerly incarcerated at correctional facilities in Solano, Kern and Imperial counties.

The 41-year-old used to soak a bed sheet with water and wrap it around himself to try to keep cool during triple-digit summer temperatures. The fans that he and his cellmates were provided with just “pushed hot air,” he said.

“It was extremely uncomfortable, headaches, feeling closed in, like you’re in a furnace,” said Cox, now an organizer with the Oakland-based nonprofit Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. “If it’s 100 degrees outside, it’s at least 115 degrees inside these cells, and there’s no air conditioner.”

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation holds nearly 90,000 incarcerated people, many of whom are required to work, and more than 58,000 employees. But the state’s largest agency has been exempted from required worker protections against dangerous heat that apply to most other job sites in California.

State workplace safety regulators are now proposing to end that carve-out. Draft regulations released earlier this month would require CDCR to provide employees, including incarcerated workers, with drinking water and rest breaks in cool-down areas when indoor temperatures reach or exceed 87 degrees Fahrenheit.

The department should reduce temperatures in indoor work areas to below 87 degrees or limit workers’ exposure to heat, such as by changing their shifts. But employers could skirt the requirements, which would also cover local jails and juvenile detention facilities, if they can demonstrate that the measures are unfeasible or would imperil safety.

For Cox, Cal/OSHA’s draft represents a much-awaited first step to kickstart the rulemaking process, which can take months or years. It’s unclear how much tens of thousands of incarcerated workers would be protected if large exemptions are allowed, he said.

“The proposal appears to protect staff way more than protecting the incarcerated population,” Cox said. “With a more refined and intentional approach, I think we could do better. Because what’s proposed now basically can delay or dilute real relief and turn this rule basically into a paper rule, leaving it largely up to discretion.”

CDCR did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cal/OSHA spokesperson Denisse Gómez said feedback from stakeholders and others will inform the proposed regulation, which will be discussed next at a public meeting on May 7.

CDCR operates dozens of correctional and rehabilitation facilities, many of them located in the Central Valley, Inland Empire and other regions that often reach triple digits during the summer. Climate change is expected to exacerbate the risks of very high temperatures, which can result in heat stroke and death.

A coalition of workplace safety advocates and unions representing prison staffers backs a state bill that would require CDCR to implement minimum relief measures during excessive weather events. AB 2499 would also mandate cooling systems at correctional facilities’ living quarters, work areas, and recreational spaces. The Assembly’s public safety committee plans to hear the proposed legislation on March 24.

State prison officials have estimated that it would cost about $6 billion to implement effective air cooling mechanisms to protect prison workers from extreme heat. Cost concerns led policymakers to exclude CDCR from indoor heat rules issued in 2024 for restaurants, warehouses, manufacturing plants and other indoor workplaces.

Those regulations have a lower temperature trigger than the current proposal for prisons and jails, as businesses are required to provide workers with drinking water and cool-down options when indoor temperatures climb to 82 degrees. If an area reaches 87 degrees, employers must lower the temperature through air conditioning, ventilation and other measures, or reduce worker exposure to the heat.

CDCR has been working on a $38 million pilot program to test insulation and cooling system improvements at three prisons in Madera, Kern and Los Angeles counties. Results are not expected until 2028 at the earliest.

Last year, the Office of the Inspector General reviewed the department’s preparedness for extremely hot and cold temperatures at three prisons — High Desert State Prison, California State Prison, Corcoran and California State Prison, Los Angeles County — and found CDCR was failing to take steps to protect vulnerable incarcerated people. Old cooling and heating equipment commonly failed, as some systems were more than 30 years old, the review found.

“The department has long acknowledged the challenges it has with its aging infrastructure, including heating and cooling systems,” the report said.