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Phoenix landscaping heat plan requirements: what to put in yours

Checked against Arizona’s published heat guidance on Oct 29, 2026 · By Anchor Point Apps · Not legal advice

Landscaping crews move between sites all day, work with power equipment, and often hire seasonally, which is exactly where heat plans tend to break down. The state’s 2026 guidance has no landscaping-specific rule; here’s how its general elements map onto your crews.

Be clear on what this is. Arizona has no landscaping-specific heat rule. The guidance below is the statewide 2026 guidance for all outdoor employers, and the “how this looks for a landscaping crew” parts are our practical suggestions, not state requirements.

What the guidance asks for

• Responsibilities. Who owns the plan, who supervises each crew, and who can stop work.
• Water. Free, potable, cool drinking water close to the work. For water that isn’t plumbed, the task force recommends enough at the start of the shift for at least one quart per employee per hour, or an effective procedure to replenish it. “Cool” is described as ideally 59°F, with clean, regularly maintained containers.
• Shade. Natural or constructed shade that doesn’t trap heat, big enough for employees on break to sit in a natural posture, open on at least three sides (or mechanically ventilated), close to the work and free of hazards. Functioning air-conditioned buildings or vehicles can count.
• Rest. Workers can take a preventive cool-down rest in the shade, without penalty, when they feel the need; intervals should reflect temperature, humidity, workload, PPE and acclimatization.
• Acclimatization. A written plan: either follow the CDC/NIOSH acclimatization plan, or design your own that covers acclimatized vs. unacclimatized workers, the heat load of clothing and PPE, higher-risk workers, and re-acclimatizing returning workers.
• Training. For supervisors and employees before heat exposure, in a language they understand, covering employer responsibilities and employee rights, your written procedures, risk factors, monitoring tools, types and signs of heat illness with first aid and emergency response, drinking small amounts of water often, acclimatization, and reporting symptoms right away. Retrain at least annually before exposure, and after a serious heat-related illness. Keep training records.

How that looks for a landscaping crew (our suggestions)

• Water on every truck. The one-quart-per-employee-per-hour benchmark works out to a lot of water for a six-person crew over a 7-hour shift. Write down the cooler size per truck and how it’s refilled between stops.
• Shade you can carry. Many residential and commercial sites have little shade. The guidance accepts constructed shade, and a functioning air-conditioned vehicle counts. Your plan should say what each crew uses and that it’s big enough to sit in.
• Heat-index check each morning. The guidance points to the NIOSH Heat Stress/Heat Safety app and the National Weather Service HeatRisk map. Put one person on each crew in charge of checking it and calling the changes (earlier start, task rotation).
• Seasonal hires. New hires in March or April are the unacclimatized workers the guidance is aimed at. Decide in advance whether you follow the NIOSH schedule or your own, and log it.
• Language. Training must be in a language employees can understand. If part of your crew speaks Spanish, the training, the plan summary and the break policy all need to be too. See our bilingual training guide.
• Equipment and PPE. Heavy clothing, chaps, hearing and eye protection add heat load. The guidance says to account for that in rest intervals and acclimatization.

Monitoring tools

The National Weather Service’s HeatRisk map for the Phoenix forecast office is one of the monitoring tools the guidance names, along with the NIOSH app.

Worth knowing: ADOSH publishes a free, customizable example Heat Illness Prevention Plan and offers free, non-enforcement consultations (the Arizona Farm Bureau lists the consultation line as (602) 542-1769; confirm on the ADOSH heat page). If you’re comfortable editing a generic template, start there. A paid builder only makes sense if you’d rather answer a short set of questions and get a plan, training sign-in sheet and logs tailored to your trade and crew, in English and Spanish.

Quick answers

Not legal advice. Not a government site. Heatplan AZ is an independent project of Anchor Point Apps LLC. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Industrial Commission of Arizona, ADOSH, OSHA, or any other government agency. Nothing here is legal or safety-engineering advice, and using a plan, checklist or guide doesn’t guarantee compliance, a clean inspection, or any outcome. Talk to a qualified safety professional or attorney about your operation.