Heat Wave Worrisome for Worker Health

Farmworkers top and bag onions at sunset. Onion harvesters work in regions where the temperature climbs to 105ºF. Photo by David Bacon

Farmworkers top and bag onions at sunset. Onion harvesters work in regions where the temperature climbs to 105ºF. Photo by David Bacon.

By Lisa Morehouse / The California Report

We've had some record-setting heat around the state this summer – it's more than just an annoyance for those who can't take refuge because the outdoors is their office. Recently when temperatures in California soared above 100 for almost three weeks, three farm workers died. As Lisa Morehouse reports, state regulators are investigating those deaths to see if employers violated heat illness prevention laws.

Temperatures in California soared above 100 degrees for almost three weeks this summer. That's a big problem for people who work outdoors in construction, on road crews and in agriculture.

State regulators are investigating the deaths of three farm workers to see if their employers violated heat illness prevention laws.*

Of the nearly 4,000 farms visited by the state regulatory agency Cal OSHA, more than 1,000 did not fully comply with state heat illness prevention regulations in 2012.

California became the first state, in 2006, to adopt heat illness regulations: employers must provide water and shade as well as allow breaks. They need to train workers and supervisors and have an emergency plan for every location.

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