Updated Aug. 9, 1:50 p.m.
As extreme heat becomes an increasing threat, state and federal officials have looked to strengthen protections for outdoor laborers.
California has long been a leader in this area, becoming the first in the nation to implement heat standards for outdoor workers in 2006. Today, the state is one of only a handful across the nation with mandatory heat protections for outdoor workers. This can include ensuring worker access to fresh water, shade and regular breaks.
But these protections aren’t always put into practice, which can risk workers’ health. A UC Merced survey found 43% of farmworkers reported never receiving a heat illness prevention plan from their employer, despite it being mandatory in California, along with other issues related to lacking compliance.
A bill introduced by Senator Dave Cortese, a Democrat representing a portion of Santa Clara county, aims to improve that compliance. Right now, if a farm worker files a complaint about a heat-related injury, they have to prove it happened as a result of their job.
Right now, if a farm worker files a worker’s compensation claim about a heat-related injury, they have to prove it happened as a result of their job. This bill would not change that for any employer in compliance with the state’s existing outdoor heat regulations. But if an employer is not in compliance with those regulations, the bill would make it so the employee’s heat injury will be presumed to have occurred due to work. The employer would still have a chance to challenge that presumption.
“We feel like we’re kind of stating the obvious,” said Cortese. “If somebody is out in the field, has heat stroke … a heat related injury, it should be presumed that that was work-related.”
Daniel Larios, a spokesperson for the United Farm Workers Foundation, said outdoor workers face disproportionate health threats from extreme heat. Following regulations aimed at protecting them from those threats, he said, could save lives. His organization has voiced support for the bill.
“There have been cases where they died because they were exposed to extremely high temperatures, but they were denied water, shade and rest,” Larios said. “And so we want to ensure that no one loses their life trying to make a living.”
The bill doesn’t add to existing regulations aimed at protecting outdoor workers from extreme heat. But Cortese said it could pressure employers to better comply with existing regulations to protect themselves from complaints.
“All an employer has to do to avoid any impact by this bill … is to be in compliance with laws that they're already subject to,” he said.
Protecting farm workers across the country
There is currently no federal heat standard outlining protections for outdoor workers. But earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rule which would set federal regulations to better protect them from heat-related illness or death.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra recently met with workers at a farm in Clarksburg — located just south of Sacramento — to discuss what their job looks like during times of extreme heat.
Elizabeth Lizarde has worked at the Clarksburg farm for the last 16 years. The day she met with Becerra, the forecast said temperatures would reach near 100 degrees. She wore a long-sleeved hoodie, jeans and sunglasses to protect herself from the coming heat.
“It’s an extremely hard job working in conditions — whether they be heat, whether they be cold rain,” Lizarde said in Spanish. “Sometimes, it’s also the cold. You can’t work because your body doesn’t function.”
Becerra said the federal regulations are still a work in progress.
“It is tough, and we owe everyone who's working to put food on our table the best to make sure that they're working under the safest conditions possible,” he said.
The move comes as heat records continue to break globally.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to better reflect how the bill would affect employers in California that are compliant with the state's existing heat regulations.
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