This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/keep_track by /u/rusticgorilla on 2023-08-03 18:33:00.

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Heat waves

Climate change is causing the Earth’s temperature to rise, which is leading to more deadly heat waves across the globe. According to the World Meteorological Organization, this July is the hottest month on record, with 21 of the first 23 days of July hotter than any previous days in the database. High temperatures in the southern United States have been unrelenting: El Paso, Texas, saw a 44-day streak of days over 100 degrees. Phoenix, Arizona, experienced a 31-day streak of days over 110 degrees, breaking the previous 18-day record. Meanwhile, the ocean water in Florida is 100 degrees, as hot as a hot tub, causing catastrophic damage to coral reefs and other marine life.

The effects of heat waves are mostly felt by lower-income people who cannot afford air conditioning and are often forced to work in extreme temperatures in order to keep their jobs. Lower-income populations currently face a 40% higher exposure to heat waves than people with higher incomes, one study found, with their vulnerability only predicted to increase in coming decades.

In the United States, people who work outdoors—like agricultural workers and delivery drivers—are in the most danger from extreme heat and lack federal protections. California, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington are the only states with mandated heat regulations. However, these only apply to some workers. In Washington, for example, employers are required to provide mandatory cool-down periods at temperatures of 90+ degrees but only if the worksite is outdoors. Employees inside a vehicle are not covered by the rule as long as it is equipped with fans or windows that open.

Business groups and lobbyists have opposed efforts to create heat protection rules at the state and federal level, claiming that such regulations place oppressing “burdens” on employers. Lobbying groups associated with the agricultural and construction fields are currently fighting against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed federal heat protection rule:

The powerful American Farm Bureau Federation has objected to the proposal. “Considering the variances in agricultural work and climate, AFBF questions whether the department can develop additional heat illness regulations without imposing new, onerous burdens on farmers and ranchers that will lead to economic losses,” it said in its comments on the rule.

The group has a long history of denying science around the climate crisis and has teamed up with fossil fuel interests in fights over climate policies.

The Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC) said while it “appreciates Osha’s rule-making in this area”, its members have “significant concerns with any regulatory approach that imposes complicated requirements on contractors and requirements that are triggered by threshold temperatures that are common in wide swaths of the country for much of the year”.

The National Demolition Association, a construction business group, said in its opposition “issues of heat exposure and the means to address it on the variety of construction worksites across the country are extremely complex”. The proposed rule “essentially dictates how and what should be included in an Osha standard for heat exposure, [and] does not account for the complexities of the issue”.

In Florida, the state Chamber of Commerce bragged about defeating a bill that would require employers in outdoor industries to provide workers with regular breaks, shade, and water when the heat index exceeds 90 degrees. Meanwhile, in Texas, the legislature passed a measure that nullifies current, and bans future, local ordinances mandating water breaks for outdoor workers. Not even two weeks after Gov. Greg Abbott ® signed the bill into law, nearly the entire state saw heat indexes rise over 100 degrees.

Delivery workers

Just weeks ago, United State Postal Service (USPS) carrier Eugene Gates Jr. died while delivering mail in the 115-degree heat in Dallas, Texas. At 66 years old, Gates worked for USPS for nearly 40 years. Months before his death, Gates was disciplined for stopping too many times on his route:

Eugene Gates Jr., was disciplined on May 2 for a “stationary event,” according to the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 132 President Kimetra Lewis. A stationary event is when a letter carrier’s scanner reads as idle on a tracker. In these instances, carriers are questioned about inefficiencies in their performance and potentially penalized for stopping along their route… The letter says an investigative review was conducted on May 11, notes that Gates’ stationary event was “in violation of postal rules and regulations,” and warns that “future deficiencies will result in more severe disciplinary actions, including removal from the Postal Service.”

OSHA has issued more than $1.3 million in fines against the Postal Service for heat hazards in eight years, covering the time that John Watzlawick, a postal veteran of 28 years, died after delivering mail during a Missouri heatwave and when Peggy Frank, a mail carrier from California, was found dead “in her non-air-conditioned mail truck” during 115-degree temperatures.

An analysis by the Center for Public Integrity last year found that the Postal Service had exposed about 900 workers to heat hazards since 2012, leading to muscle cramps, vomiting and loss of consciousness. Close to 100 workers had been hospitalized for heat-related illnesses since 2015, the site reported. Because the hospitalizations are self-reported by employers, the full tally over that span is likely higher and wouldn’t reflect the times when workers got sick but didn’t end up in the hospital.

According to the same report, approximately 70% of USPS delivery trucks do not have air conditioning. Plans to replace its fleet have been delayed many times, pushing the expected deployment date for new, air-conditioned trucks, back to mid-2024. It is unclear how quickly the aging vehicles can be replaced and if areas prone to extreme heat will be prioritized.

Other delivery companies likewise fail to protect employees from high temperatures. Last year, 24-year-old UPS driver Esteban Chavez collapsed and died from heatstroke while delivering packages in Pasadena, California. In 2022, 23-year-old Jose Cruz Rodriguez, Jr., died from a “heat-related illness” after his shift delivering packages in Waco, Texas.

[Attorney Rod] Tanner said the trucks are not air conditioned, and temperatures in the cargo holds can reach 150 degrees in the Texas heat…“As a package car driver for UPS, he was overcome by heat exhaustion during the cours…

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/Keep_Track/comments/15h8xiv/agricultural_workers_delivery_drivers_and_prison/