Excess heat affects the body’s ability to regulate its internal temperature, which can lead to heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke. Hotter temperatures can also exacerbate nervous system, respiratory, cardiovascular, and diabetes-related conditions and even affect children’s ability to learn. For outdoor laborers, symptoms such as fatigue and dizziness especially can be hazardous when the work involves dangerous conditions or equipment.
There are few federal or state regulatory protections for farmworkers from heat. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 2024 proposed a new standard that would more clearly define employer obligations and require employers to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplaces. Two years later, the proposal is moving forward, but slowly.
In the absence of a specific federal regulation, OSHA has relied on the general duty clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The clause requires employers to provide a workplace free of “recognized hazards” that can cause “death or serious physical harm.”
California, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington have implemented state-level heat protections. But some states, including Florida and Texas, have prohibited the protections at the local level. In 2024, Florida lawmakers banned local governments from establishing any such protections for outdoor workers. The legislation came after commissioners in Miami-Dade County considered a proposal that would have required construction and agricultural companies to provide water and rest breaks when the heat index hit at least 95 degrees. The proposal also would have required training in heat illness and first aid.
“Farmwork is dignified, important work,” Economos said. “I’m not trying to get people out of farmwork. We’re trying to elevate farmwork because it is a skilled profession. Unlike what (people say), that it is unskilled work—try it.”
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.