How record U.S. summers hit workers

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By Jack Graham | Deputy Editor, Funded Projects.

Extreme heat

Kenia Rodríguez, who works in a warehouse producing plastic goods in Houston, Texas, said four of her colleagues fainted in a single day because of high temperatures.

A mother of five, she is forced to work through unbearable heat to make a living.

"I have felt close to fainting, with my body dripping with cold sweat, but burning from the heat," she said.

This week, Context’s Diana Baptista and David S. erfinski reported on the heat taking its toll on American workers , and the lack of laws in place to protect them.

It wasn’t just Rodríguez?working in harsh conditions. They spoke to people in a dozen states, including ?a food delivery?driver in Phoenix slogging through temperatures up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49C), and construction worker Elder Portillo who has suffered headaches, fatigue and vomiting while working in New Jersey.

"I feel my blood boiling, as if my skin was on fire," he told them.

Workers have suffered both indoors and outdoors in this summer's record heat in the U.S., severely affecting their health. And, in many cases, they’re working in states without regulations guaranteeing protections such as shade, air conditioning and water.

If the body remains at a high temperature for too long it can damage vital organs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Almost 1,000 workers died from exposure to heat in the U.S. between 1992 and 2022, a third of them in the construction industry, figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show.

Globally, nearly 19,000 people die from heat exposure each year and 26.2 million people are living with chronic kidney diseases linked to workplace heat stress, according to the U.N.'s International Labour Organization.

"It's not just heat stroke, you can have heat-induced cardiac arrest. The heat can combine with the issue of dehydration and cause kidney failure," said Juley Fulcher with the advocacy group Public Citizen.

"It can really sneak up on you," he said.

The bottom line

Record heat also hits workers and businesses in their pockets. And, for migrant workers, the situation is even more difficult.

A sweet potato worker in North Carolina called José said he could lose his job and temporary visa so he must keep working through it.

"If you don't, you are fired and forced to sign a piece of paper saying you're not productive enough for the company," said José, who requested that only his first name be used for fear of retaliation.

Fulcher said U.S. industry was losing nearly?$100 billion a year due to workplace heat stress.

Productivity losses related to heat could reach nearly $200 billion by 2030, and $500 billion by 2050, a report by consultancy group Vivid Economics calculated.

Despite this, only a handful of states have set their own heat protection rules. Others, such as ?Texas and Florida, have blocked local authorities from introducing them.

In response, President Joe Biden's administration is advancing a?first-of-its-kind proposal ?to safeguard indoor and outdoor workers from extreme heat, but it could be years before the new rules take effect.

It would require employers to provide support such as cool drinking water, mandatory rest breaks, and other measures once temperatures reach certain levels.?

Business groups have argued such standards would add costs and that one-size-fits-all rules would not work in every industry.?

"It is common sense that people working under the heat need water, breaks and shade," said Abigail Kerfoot, a lawyer with the Centre for Migrants' Rights (Centro?de los?Derechos?del?Migrante).

"But when employers do not provide these simple measures, the cost is the worker's life."

See you next week,

Jack