Labor Conditions for Agricultural Work: Heat Protection; Short-Handled Tool & Hand-Weeding/Thinning Limits; Public Health Emergency Protections

Division of Labor Standards and Statistics
707 17th Street, Denver, CO 80202 | 303-318-8441
www.ColoradoLaborLaw.gov | www.LeyesLaboralesDeColorado.gov

Interpretive Notice & Formal Opinion ("INFO") #12C:
Labor Conditions for Agricultural Work: Heat Protection; Short-Handled Tool & Hand-Weeding/Thinning Limits; Public Health Emergency Protections

Overview

This INFO covers, in agricultural employment:

1. Required heat safety precautions that apply (A) when the worksite's high daily temperature is at least 80 degrees, or (B) if other "increased risk conditions" exist;
2. The prohibition on short-handled hoe use, restrictions on hand-weeding and hand-thinning work, and when employers are required to provide knee pads and gloves to employees; and
3. Additional complaint, housing, and notification rights and requirements in public health emergencies (as of the date of this INFO, an applicable public health emergency is not in effect).

INFO #12D details how these rights are enforced, and which employers, employees, and work they cover.

Heat Safety Precautions

Because working in heat can pose a significant danger to employees' health and safety, the Agricultural Labor Rights and Responsibilities Act ("ALRRA") and the Division's Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, require agricultural employers to adopt both (1) basic heat precautions when the forecasted outdoor (or measured indoor) high temperature at the worksite is at least 80 degrees, and (2) additional heat precautions when there are "increased risk conditions" (for example, when the high temperature is at least 95 degrees, employees are in their first four days of work, or there is "unhealthy" air quality at the worksite). Employers also have annual and ongoing safety obligations, such as creating a heat safety emergency response plan and providing employees with yearly heat safety training.

When Precautions Apply. To know if basic heat or "increased risk conditions" rules apply at an outdoor worksite, employers are required to evaluate weather and other conditions on a day-to-day (daily) basis. Employers must use a temperature forecast:

• from any reliable source (professional weather service, mass media source, government entity, etc.);
• for a place that covers the worksite (or, if no forecast is available, the nearest place with a forecast); and
• from no earlier than noon the day before.[^1]

In addition, employers must monitor conditions throughout the workday.[^2] Employers must use at least one of three methods to monitor conditions:

• Directly measure the temperature where the employees perform work, as necessary based on the forecast and conditions.[^3] This is a flexible requirement — an employer should check more when temperatures are higher but may check less or not at all when temperatures are lower.
• Provide its employees with the means to measure the temperature and to inform the employer that a threshold has been exceeded.[^4] The employer must allow the employees to check at least once per hour. The employer must provide the thermometer and cannot require an employee to pay for their own. An employee may provide their own thermometer if it is in addition to the employer's compliance method.
• Check or permit employees to check any reliable weather service providing weather reports for the exact location where the work is performed.[^5] Online weather services provide information for exact locations, either based on GPS coordinates or by using a device's location. For example, weather.gov allows an employer to input GPS coordinates or use the map to select a "point forecast." Alternatively, cell phone applications from reliable weather services provide information using a phone's exact location. Using the exact location is essential if an employer selects this option because conditions can vary widely within localities.

An employer is not required to monitor forecasts and conditions if it acts as if the basic or increased risk heat precautions are triggered and provides the applicable protections.[^6] An employer may choose to provide the basic heat precautions, but monitor for increased risk conditions.

To know if basic heat precautions or "increased risk conditions" rules apply at an indoor worksite, an employer must measure the worksite's temperature during each workday. The basic heat precautions apply on any day when (1) the measured temperature exceeds an 80 degree threshold, or (2) regardless of the measured temperature, the employer has reason to expect the temperature will exceed the threshold.[^7]

If an employer learns only after a workday or shift begins that (1) the temperature will meet the 80-degree threshold or (2) one or more other "increased risk conditions" apply, it must take the required precautions described below as soon as possible after learning of the changed conditions.[^8]

If complying with any heat precaution is impossible or unsafe, employers must: (1) follow the precautions as much as possible, (2) use "equivalent" protective measures (e.g., an air-conditioned vehicle rather than unsafe shade), and (3) describe the equivalent measures and the reason for using them in writing.[^9]

A. Basic Heat Precautions

When a worksite high temperature is 80 degrees or higher, employers must:

1. Provide adequate shade for employees to use during rest, meal, cool-down, and other breaks. This shaded area can be natural (e.g., from trees) or artificial (e.g., from a tent/structure), but it must be:
   - located as close to the worksite as practical, and close enough for employees to reasonably access it during breaks (not further than 0.25 miles for employees accessing it by foot);
   - large enough for employees to fit fully shaded in a normal posture, without touching each other;
   - safe, sanitary, and healthy for employees to use, and not with any condition that would discourage employees from using it, such as being near garbage; and
   - ventilated or open to the air.[^10]

If adequate shade can't be provided safely (for example, if it is dangerous for employees to be in a shaded area in the open due to high winds), employers must provide effective alternatives to let employees cool down: for example, by providing an air-conditioned space (e.g., a vehicle or structure) where they can rest, or by providing them with individual cooling devices/items without cost or deduction (e.g., towels or vests made of specialized material to retain a cool temperature).[^11] A shaded area is not adequate if any source, such as exhaust, running machinery, heat-radiating structures, or heat in a non-air-conditioned vehicle (including a bus), yields additional heat in the shaded area.[^12] If using an air-conditioned area, break time only starts after the air-conditioned space has cooled. An air-conditioned area is not providing cooling when it is still hot.

2. Provide cool, clean, and close drinking water on shifts and breaks. Employers must provide each employee at least 32 ounces of cool, potable (clean, safe, and drinkable) water per hour. Employees must be permitted to drink water and use restrooms on shifts and breaks. The water must be:
   - located as close to the worksite as practical, and close enough for employees to reasonably access it during shifts and breaks (not further than 0.25 miles for those accessing it by foot);
   - kept 60 degrees or cooler, by any method the employer chooses; and
   - provided from a sanitary source.

If an employer cannot provide range or ranch workers who travel away from the worksite for most (or all) of the day with drinking water as described above, they must be provided with:
- as much water as possible, including by re-supplying them with water whenever the employer re-supplies or otherwise visits a location near the employees, and
- equipment to carry potable water; if it is not possible to carry enough potable water as described above, an employer must provide, without cost or deduction, equipment that allows an employee to purify water from non-potable sources, such as water purification containers.[^13]

3. Provide additional, preventative, cool-down rest when needed. If an employee believes it is necessary to prevent or remedy overheating, an employer must allow them to take an additional preventative, cool-down rest period and must:
   - monitor the employee (or if they are outside others' presence, communicate with them as frequently as needed) to ask if they have signs or symptoms of heat illness or injury;
   - if any symptoms persist after resting, respond appropriately given the severity of symptoms (including contacting emergency medical services if necessary); and
   - not send the employee back to work until any such signs or symptoms have stopped, but in no event in less than 10 minutes after the employee reaches the shade.[^14]

B. Increased Risk Conditions

Employers must take additional precautions (detailed below) when worksite conditions (in addition to 80-degree temperature) include one or more of the following:

• High Heat: The daily high forecast or measured worksite temperature is at least 95 degrees;
• Unhealthy Air Quality: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has issued an Air Quality Advisory or Action Day for a location including the worksite;
• A Long Workday Is Reasonably Expected: An employee (other than a range worker) is scheduled or reasonably expected to work over 12 hours in the workday or shift;
• Heavy Clothing or Gear Is Required: An employee is required to wear clothes that make it more difficult for sweat to evaporate into the outside air, or personal protective equipment (PPE), either as an additional layer over their regular clothes, or PPE that covers all or almost all of their head and face; or
• Acclimatization Is Required: An employee is in their first four workdays when the temperature is over 80 degrees for the employer (which includes their first four days of work for the employer in over a month).[^15]

If one or more of the "Increased Risk Conditions" apply, in addition to taking the basic heat precautions described above (providing water, shade, and preventative cool-down rest if needed), an employer must also:

1. Provide Additional Rest Time: Employees must not perform more than two hours of work before at least 10 minutes of rest are provided. This can be done by any mix of spacing out any breaks already required, and/or providing additional breaks meeting the rest or meal period requirements under the COMPS Order. See INFO #12B for a description of rest and meal period requirements.[^16]
2. Provide Notice of Rights: Before a workday or shift starts (or as soon as possible during a shift, if the employer only later learns of an increased risk condition), an employer must notify employees, by any effective method, of their rights to heat protections in "increased risk conditions," including:
   - adequate drinking water, and adequate shade for use during rest, meal, and other breaks;
   - additional breaks as described in #1 above, so employees perform no more than two hours of work before at least 10 minutes of rest are provided; and
   - additional preventative cool-down rest periods if needed.

For notice to be "effective" for non-English-speaking employees, it must be in their primary language.[^17]

C. Annual and Ongoing Obligations

If at any point in the calendar year, a worksite temperature of at least 80 degrees is "reasonably expected" (i.e., if the temperature was at least 80 degrees on any day during the last year, or if it is forecasted to be (or reaches) at least 80 degrees in the current year),[^18] an employer has the following obligations:

1. Establish a Reliable Method of Communication With Employees. Employers must provide a reliable method (e.g., by radio or phone) to communicate with employees, which allows employees to contact emergency medical services if necessary.[^19]
2. Monitor Reports of Heat Illness/Injury. Employers are required to have an effective system in place to monitor any signs of heat illness or injury, such as by observing employees (up to 20 employees per designated individual), using a mandatory buddy system that allows employees to monitor each other, or regularly communicating with any employee working outside the presence of others.[^20]
3. Establish Emergency Response Plans. Employers are required to establish emergency response plans for heat illness and injury, including:
   - Designating at least one person at each worksite who is responsible for contacting emergency medical services when needed, and letting others do so if that person is unavailable; and
   - Ensuring, in an emergency, that emergency medical services are contacted, and provided all necessary information (including contact information and directions to reach the employee(s), as immediately as possible), and that, if necessary and appropriate, employees are transported where emergency medical services can reach them.[^21]
4. Respond Quickly and Appropriately to Possible Heat Illness or Injury. When signs or symptoms of heat illness or injury are reported by anyone or observed by a supervisor, employers must respond quickly and appropriately, including by:
   - Quickly relieving the employee showing or reporting signs or symptoms from duty (or permitting the employee to relieve themselves from duty);
   - Monitoring the employee's signs or symptoms (or for employees outside the presence of others, checking in as frequently as necessary to adequately monitor their health and safety); and
   - Calling emergency medical services if an employee has severe signs or symptoms (e.g., decreased consciousness, staggering, vomiting, disorientation, irrational behavior, convulsions, or (even after resting) an increased heart rate).[^22]
5. Provide Heat Safety Training. Employers are required to provide safety training to all employees about how to prevent and treat heat-related injuries and illnesses at least annually (yearly), and upon hiring for new employees. This training must be completed by April 20th of each year. Additionally, supervisors and other employees who have any roles or responsibilities related to the employer's heat safety precautions must be trained on those roles or responsibilities. This safety training must be provided in an employee's primary language if they are not fluent in English,[^23] and must address the following topics:
   - Environmental and personal risk factors for heat illness, including the added burden of heat on the body from exertion, clothing, and gear;
   - The importance of acclimatization in the first days of work in heat, drinking water, and quickly reporting their or others' signs or symptoms of heat illness or injury;
   - Different types, signs, and symptoms of heat illness, including self-monitoring, and how signs or symptoms can progress from mild to serious or life-threatening;
   - Basic first aid (including first aid that can be performed by the employees themselves), and the available emergency responses to heat illness;[^24] and
   - The requirements of Rule 3 (providing heat illness and injury precautions) and Rule 5.1 (prohibiting retaliation and interference with rights) of the Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, which may be satisfied by providing employees with a copy of the "Agricultural Labor Rights and Responsibilities Poster," INFOs #12A-12D, or another document satisfying Rule 5.2 (on posted notice of rights, see INFO #12D), and site-specific information about how the employer is complying with Rule 3, e.g., explaining how the employer is providing required water, shade, and break time, as well as its safety and emergency procedures.[^25]
6. Provide Fans for Employer-Provided Housing. If at any point in a calendar year, the increased risk condition of a worksite temperature of at least 95 degrees is "reasonably expected" to occur, or actually occurs, employers are required to provide employees with fans for all sleeping quarters (e.g., bedrooms or multi-bed dormitory rooms) in employer-provided housing.[^26] Fans must be able to continuously run, meaning that the fan does not require a button to be held to operate and power is provided without cost or deduction.[^27]

Short-Handled Hoe Ban; Hand-Weeding/-Thinning Restrictions; Gloves & Knee Pads

No Short-Handled Hoes. Employers cannot require employees to use short-handled hoes, including long-handled hoes that have been modified to have short handles.[^28]

Stooped, Squatting, or Kneeling Hand-Weeding/-Thinning "Strongly Disfavored"; Only Limited Types of Hand-Weeding and Hand-Thinning Allowed. Weeding or thinning in a stooped, kneeling, or squatting position with a short-handled tool, or by hand, is "strongly disfavored," unless there is no suitable long-handled tool or other appropriate way to perform the work. Hand-weeding/-thinning is allowed in only limited situations:

• Stooped, squatting, or kneeling hand-weeding that is "incidental to" other work (i.e., this hand-weeding work takes up 20% or less of the worker's weekly work time);
• Hand-weeding or hand-thinning of high density plants that are spaced less than 2 inches apart;
• Hand-weeding or hand-thinning of a commodity for which the employer has a certification showing that the commodity meets the United States Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program;
• Hand-weeding, hand-thinning, or hand-tending of seedlings or commodities in tubs or planters of up to 15" openings;
• Seeding, planting, transplanting, or harvesting by hand or with a hand tool;
• Hand-weeding, hand-thinning, or hand-tending the soil-exposed area surrounding commodities that are grown using polyethylene film or plastic mulch (but not spaces between rows of plants).[^29]

As noted in INFO #12B, hand-weeding or hand-thinning workers have an additional 5 paid rest period minutes.

Limited Allowances and Certificates of Variance for Hand-Weeding and Hand-Thinning. The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) has issued rules on the following topics:

• "Allowances for and limitations to hand-weeding and hand-thinning for agricultural employers actively engaged in the transition to certified organic agriculture"; and
• A process by which agricultural employers can "seek a certificate of variance [from the CDA] [...] that allows for more than occasional or intermittent hand-weeding" (i.e., for hand-weeding that exceeds 20% of the worker's weekly work time), where the employer shows that (1) the work does not risk injury to workers or involve unnecessary stooping, kneeling, or squatting; and (2) there is no alternative or existing exemption suitable and appropriate to the employer's production and operation size.[^30]

Gloves and Knee Pads. Employers must provide protective gloves and knee pads, without cost or deduction, as needed for employees performing hand-weeding, hand-thinning, or hand-hot-capping work.[^31]

Additional Protections During Applicable Public Health Emergencies

During an applicable Public Health Emergency (PHE), agricultural employers or other principals must provide the below protections to workers.[^32] As of the date of this INFO, the PHE for COVID-19 has expired.[^33]

Additional Living Space. ALRRA, as amended by HB 22-1313, requires employer-provided housing to meet the following minimum square footage requirements, as to each employee:

• single-occupancy housing — at least 80 square feet of combined sleeping and living quarters;
• multiple-occupancy housing — at least 100 square feet of sleeping quarters and at least 120 square feet in areas used for "combined purposes," such as eating and preparing meals;
• all housing — screened windows that open to the outdoors, or an air filtration system; and
• range workers — a single occupancy mobile housing unit, regardless of 20 C.F.R. 655.235 variances.[^34]

An employer may alternatively satisfy these living space requirements by complying with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) public health orders on PHE housing protections. The Division may consult with the CDPHE on enforcement of these requirements as needed.[^35]

PHE Safety Training; Worksite PHE Safety Notice. Agricultural principals must provide (1) training about PHE-related workplace safety precautions and protections, and (2) materials ("posters and pamphlets in English, Spanish, and any other relevant languages") providing federal and state workplace guidance about the PHE and contact information for the Colorado Legal Services Migrant Farmworker Division.[^36] These materials must be posted and provided:

• at the worksite,
• in any employer-provided housing, and
• in any places where labor law or other information is typically posted.[^37]

An employer may comply with the PHE training requirements by training workers consistent with federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and CDPHE recommendations, and with the PHE guidance requirements by providing them OSHA and CDPHE materials about the same topic.[^38] See INFO #12D for more information.

For More Information: Visit the Division website, call 303-318-8441, or email [email protected].

[^1]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.1(B).
[^2]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.2.
[^3]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.2(A).
[^4]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.2(B).
[^5]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.2(C).
[^6]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.4.
[^7]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.1(A). An employer would have reason to expect the indoor high temperature will exceed the threshold, for example, if (1) the employer intends to cause the indoor temperature to meet the threshold; (2) outdoor weather conditions give the employer reason to expect an indoor temperature meeting the threshold; or (3) in one of the last three workdays, the indoor worksite had a high temperature that met the threshold.
[^8]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.3.
[^9]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.5.
[^10]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.3.
[^11]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.3.1. Employers of range workers must let them seek and use shade on rest and meal breaks, and otherwise limit the impact of heat and sun exposure. Rule 3.3.2.
[^12]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.3(A).
[^13]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rules 3.2, 3.2.1.
[^14]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rules 3.4.3; 3.5.5. An employer can provide preventative cool-down rest at the same time as other rest or meal periods already required by the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards (COMPS) Order, 7 CCR 1103-1, or Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, Rule 3, but such rest can't be denied or delayed due to scheduling or using other rest or meal periods (Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, Rule 3.5.5).
[^15]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.4.1.
[^16]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.4.2 (employers of range workers must encourage spacing the COMPS Order rest breaks and other rest opportunities to include rest every two hours as much as possible).
[^17]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.4.3.
[^18]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.1.6.
[^19]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.5.1.
[^20]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.5.2.
[^21]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.5.4.
[^22]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.5.3.
[^23]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.6.4. An employer may ask the Division for help in obtaining materials in an employee's primary language. Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.6.4.
[^24]: Employers can provide the information in items (a)-(d) with training based on any of the following heat safety programs, or another program with comparable information (Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.6.3): "Heat Illness Prevention Training Guide, A Lesson Plan for Employers," published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; "Heat Education and Awareness Tools (HEAT) Facilitator's Guide," by University of Washington Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center; or "Heat Illness Prevention Employer Training Discussion Guides and Visual Aids," by University of California Davis Western Center for Agricultural Health & Safety.
[^25]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.6.3.
[^26]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.4.4.
[^27]: Agricultural Labor Conditions Rules, 7 CCR 1103-15, Rule 3.4.4.
[^28]: C.R.S. § 8-13.5-201(9) (definition of "short-handled hoe"); -203(2)(a) (prohibiting use of short-handled hoe).
[^29]: C.R.S. § 8-13.5-203(2).
[^30]: C.R.S. § 8-13.5-203(2)(d),(e); Rules Pertaining To Hand Weeding And Hand Thinning By Agricultural Workers, 8 CCR 1202-18.
[^31]: C.R.S. § 8-13.5-203(4).
[^32]: These PHE requirements apply to not only "employers," but also other "principals engaged in agricultural employment" and their "workers" (not just employees); "principals" include state and local government employers and any other people or entities engaged in agricultural employment. C.R.S. § 8-14.4-101(3).
[^33]: ALRRA, as amended by Colorado House Bill 22-1313 (HB 22-1313), defines a "public health emergency" as "a statewide public health emergency ... declared by executive order regarding COVID-19, the coronavirus disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, also known as SARS-CoV-2, or another communicable disease ... transmissible from person to person." The state "disaster emergency" related to COVID-19, declared on March 11, 2020 (Exec. Order D 2020 003, Mar. 11, 2020), expired on April 27, 2023. For all state PHE Orders, see https://covid19.colorado.gov/public-health-orders-and-executive-orders.
[^34]: C.R.S. § 8-14.4-109(1)(a).
[^35]: C.R.S. § 8-14.4-109(1)(a)(II), (b)(II), (c). Visit CDPHE's website and public health orders to review any such orders as they are issued.
[^36]: C.R.S. § 8-14.4-109(1)(d); Colorado Whistleblower, Anti-Retaliation, Non-Interference, and Notice-Giving (WARNING) Rules, 7 CCR 1103-11, Rule 4.2.2(D).
[^37]: C.R.S. § 8-14.4-109(1)(e); Colorado WARNING Rules, 7 CCR 1103-11, Rule 4.2.2(A)-(C). If these materials are damaged or removed, they must be replaced within 48 hours. Colorado WARNING Rules, 7 CCR 1103-11, Rule 4.2.2(B).
[^38]: Colorado WARNING Rules, 7 CCR 1103-11, Rule 4.2.2(C), (D).

INFOs are not binding law, but are the officially approved Division opinions and notices on how it applies and interprets various statutes and rules. The Division continues to update and post new INFOs; email [email protected] with any suggestions. To be sure to reference up-to-date INFOs, rules, or other material, visit ColoradoLaborLaw.gov. Last updated Jan. 27, 2026