Take Action to Protect Workers from Extreme Heat
Join us in the fight to protect indoor workers against the threat of growing heat waves. With the increasing frequency and duration of climate change-driven heat, it is essential to safeguard indoor workers throughout California from preventable heat-related injuries and mortality.
We sincerely appreciate your proactive steps to safeguard indoor workers from extreme heat. At this crucial moment, we rely on your financial backing to continue our battle against extreme heat in workplaces and communities. Your generous donation today will guarantee the continuation of this vital endeavor. Your gift is tax-deductible.
The urgency to protect indoor workers in California from heat-related injuries and illnesses cannot be overstated. These workers are the backbone of our economy and endure grueling temperatures in the summer months. Worse yet, climate change is shifting the seasons so that summer-like temperatures pop up year-round.
The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) must adopt the Indoor Worker Heat-Illness Prevention Standard to protect workers and safeguard our economy from the increasing threat of extreme heat. A 2016 bill, SB 1167, mandated OSHSB to adopt a standard by January 2019. It was a step in the right direction, however, bureaucratic delays have continued to put lives at risk and hinder our economic productivity.
According to the LA Times, extreme heat is the No. 1 killer among climate hazards, responsible for an estimated 3,900 deaths in California from 2010 to 2019. It is an escalating threat to workers in rapidly expanding sectors, such as warehousing and logistics, predominantly located in the Inland Empire and Central Valley. Underscoring the problem, the number of warehouse workers in the Inland Empire doubled between 2019 and 2022.
When indoor workers are exposed to high temperatures and work long physically demanding shifts, they experience headaches, nausea, lightheadedness, and nosebleeds. These symptoms can be particularly severe for individuals with preexisting health conditions, as heat is a stressor that can worsen their health. If left untreated, these symptoms can progress to heat illness, which can cause severe injury and, in many cases, even death.
A 2021 UCLA study analyzing 18 years of California workers’ compensation data revealed a stark reality: Californians working in high-risk heat industries are five times more likely to be injured due to heat. The study also found that hotter temperatures led to over 360,000 additional workplace injuries in the state. On days when the temperature was between 85 and 90 degrees, workplace injuries increased by 5% to 7%. This risk escalated to 10% to 15% when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. These heat-related injuries are not just a health crisis but a financial burden, costing the city of Los Angeles a staggering $5 billion annually in productivity loss.
We need your support to tell the Cal/OSHA Standards Board to immediately start the rule-making process for the Department of Corrections’ indoor heat standard and to hire more enforcement officers. Until the board adopts the standards, Cal/OSHA inspectors cannot effectively protect indoor workers from heat. Without clear rules stating the temperature at which heat is hazardous, businesses face no threat of enforcement action.
We sincerely appreciate your proactive steps to safeguard indoor workers from extreme heat. At this crucial moment, we rely on your financial backing to continue our battle against extreme heat in workplaces and communities. Your generous donation today will guarantee the continuation of this vital endeavor. Your gift is tax-deductible.
We sincerely appreciate your proactive steps to safeguard indoor workers from extreme heat. At this crucial moment, we rely on your financial backing to continue our battle against extreme heat in workplaces and communities. Your generous donation today will guarantee the continuation of this vital endeavor. Your gift is tax-deductible.
The urgency to protect indoor workers in California from heat-related injuries and illnesses cannot be overstated. These workers are the backbone of our economy and endure grueling temperatures in the summer months. Worse yet, climate change is shifting the seasons so that summer-like temperatures pop up year-round.
The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) must adopt the Indoor Worker Heat-Illness Prevention Standard to protect workers and safeguard our economy from the increasing threat of extreme heat. A 2016 bill, SB 1167, mandated OSHSB to adopt a standard by January 2019. It was a step in the right direction, however, bureaucratic delays have continued to put lives at risk and hinder our economic productivity.
According to the LA Times, extreme heat is the No. 1 killer among climate hazards, responsible for an estimated 3,900 deaths in California from 2010 to 2019. It is an escalating threat to workers in rapidly expanding sectors, such as warehousing and logistics, predominantly located in the Inland Empire and Central Valley. Underscoring the problem, the number of warehouse workers in the Inland Empire doubled between 2019 and 2022.
When indoor workers are exposed to high temperatures and work long physically demanding shifts, they experience headaches, nausea, lightheadedness, and nosebleeds. These symptoms can be particularly severe for individuals with preexisting health conditions, as heat is a stressor that can worsen their health. If left untreated, these symptoms can progress to heat illness, which can cause severe injury and, in many cases, even death.
A 2021 UCLA study analyzing 18 years of California workers’ compensation data revealed a stark reality: Californians working in high-risk heat industries are five times more likely to be injured due to heat. The study also found that hotter temperatures led to over 360,000 additional workplace injuries in the state. On days when the temperature was between 85 and 90 degrees, workplace injuries increased by 5% to 7%. This risk escalated to 10% to 15% when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. These heat-related injuries are not just a health crisis but a financial burden, costing the city of Los Angeles a staggering $5 billion annually in productivity loss.
We need your support to tell the Cal/OSHA Standards Board to immediately start the rule-making process for the Department of Corrections’ indoor heat standard and to hire more enforcement officers. Until the board adopts the standards, Cal/OSHA inspectors cannot effectively protect indoor workers from heat. Without clear rules stating the temperature at which heat is hazardous, businesses face no threat of enforcement action.
We sincerely appreciate your proactive steps to safeguard indoor workers from extreme heat. At this crucial moment, we rely on your financial backing to continue our battle against extreme heat in workplaces and communities. Your generous donation today will guarantee the continuation of this vital endeavor. Your gift is tax-deductible.