ORLANDO, Fla. – As temperatures continue to soar across the country, the threat of heat-related illnesses for those who work outside is becoming increasingly concerning.
Several advocates and lawmakers, including Acting U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su, announced a proposed rule aimed at protecting workers from heat hazards.
The proposal is set to be implemented by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), aiming to safeguard approximately 36 million indoor and outdoor workers.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
“The same people who during the COVID pandemic were labeled as essential workers, because they are essential to our society, are now being forgotten in the face of extreme heat,” Congressman Maxwell Frost stated.
This proposal comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed legislation in April, which prohibits local governments from creating their own heat protection rules for outdoor workers.
“When people say a standard like this is gonna cost a lot of money, I say what is the cost of doing nothing. The cost of human life, the cost to dignity of workers is far too high,” Su emphasized.
Currently, there are no federal standards in place to protect workers from heat exposure while on the job.
Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics paint a grim picture, with nearly 480 workers in the U.S. having died from exposure to environmental heat between 2011 and 2022.
Local harvest worker Eliud gave a personal testimony during Friday’s press conference.
Eliud shared in Spanish, “I experienced the suffocating heat, the air runs out, you want to drink a little water, that’s what your mouth can endure, but that’s how your mouth soaks and becomes dry again.”
Ernesto Ruiz from the Farmworker Association of Florida expressed hopes the proposed rule, along with President Biden’s push to override state standards, will pan out.
“Breaks, shading, acclimatization, cool water; that’s all we’re asking for. The fact that this law already passed for students, but we’re not passing it for farm workers and essential workers, it shows to me that it’s an issue with empathy rather than an issue of understanding the science,” Ruiz said.
While nothing is set in stone yet, the next steps involve getting the proposed rule formally published in the Federal Register. Once published, there will be a 120-day comment period followed by a public hearing before the rule can be finalized.