The Biden Administration Is Adding Worker Protections To Address Extreme Heat

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The U.S. Department of Labor building on March 26, 2020, in Washington, D.C.





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Investigations
Heat Is Killing Workers In The U.S. — And There Are No Federal Rules To Protect Them

The fatalities included workers performing essential services across the country: farm laborers in California and Nebraska, construction workers and trash collectors in Texas, and tree trimmers in North Carolina and Virginia. An analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics by NPR and CJI showed the three-year average of worker heat deaths had doubled since the early 1990s.

Workers of color have borne the brunt: Since 2010, for example, Hispanics have accounted for a third of all heat fatalities, yet they represent a fraction — 17% — of the U.S. workforce, NPR and CJI found. Health and safety experts attribute this unequal toll to Hispanics’ overrepresentation in industries vulnerable to dangerous heat, such as construction and agriculture.

OSHA said in the news release that despite «widespread underreporting, 43 workers died from heat illness in 2019, and at least 2,410 others suffered serious injuries and illnesses.

Congressional Democrats who had previously introduced legislation to create a heat standard applauded Monday’s announcement.

«Without urgent action, the human and financial costs of excessive heat will continue to climb, said Rep. Robert Scott (D-Va.), who chairs the House Committee on Education and Labor.

David Michaels, who led OSHA during the Obama administration, called the new measures «a major step forward. Michaels said presidents rarely weigh in on OSHA standards, suggesting that the White House is committed to fast-tracking a heat standard.

«It is unusual for this to happen, especially so early in the rulemaking process, he said.

The Texas Newsroom and The California Newsroom, two public radio collaboratives, and Public Health Watch, a nonprofit investigative news organization, helped with the NPR and CJI investigation.