There are almost no national safety rules protecting US workers exposed to high heat
There are almost no national safety rules protecting US workers exposed to high heat
OSHA, the federal agency charged with protecting you on the job, can do little or nothing if your boss orders you to work outside in the searing summer sun.
We should have a national system like how the army uses. There are heat categories and depending on what the heat & humidity are tells you how long you can work for and how long your rest period is. It also tells you how much water you should be consuming for each level of heat. This system kept us safe in Iraq in 130 degree heat so I don't see why we couldn't implement it.
I find this to be a big problem.
There is plenty of evidence saying that working outdoors at specific temperatures and humidity is extremely harmful and dangerous, but no legal obligation for employers to provide more rest/water breaks and shade the hotter it gets.
We have a construction crew next door everyday building a new warehouse and I'm happy to see that they call it quits on days the temp spikes up past 100. There is zero shade around here mid day, and they're basically working out in the middle of a huge concrete slab currently. Most of the time they start early and end early with the exception of a few guys hanging around to unload flatbed with incoming materials. Very rare, but it seems a few firms out there do care about their employees well being.
We do this as well. Left site at 12:30 yesterday as it was starting to get too hot in the building
The next 15 years are gonna be sick
This is something I'm wanting to bring up in our next union negotiations. Anyone working in the heat needs this ironed out before the next few years, as summers just keep getting worse. It's ridiculous there aren't laws for this yet.
Well I suppose it's time to make them then. Our lawmakers are too busy making laws no one asked for and ruining the world, making it a worser place.
once we do get it passed we can bask in the few months of reprieve before the courts strike it down as overreach.
