The Governor’s office recently fast-tracked new heat regulations from California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. Compliance will be costly for businesses — both big and small — but the end goal is noble.

Unfortunately, few businesses will be able to afford it. Golden State employers are already crushed financially thanks to the state’s over 1,000-page labor code — not to mention California’s astronomical energy costs.

When you nickel and dime job creators or worse, open them up to frivolous lawsuits like those filed under the state’s broken Private Attorneys General Act, popularly known as PAGA, there’s not much left to go toward improving business practices. As a result, these new requirements will do little to increase safety. Instead, they’ll just put another target on the backs of employers already struggling to navigate the state’s complex labor code.

It’s a bitter reality, and Gov. Gavin Newsom has no one to blame but his own administration.

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