By Karla Fuentes, JHBL Staff Member
Increased temperatures are the new norm around the world due to climate change.[1] Since the 1800’s, temperatures across the globe have increased.[2] The number of people that are, and will, be affected by the climbing temperatures increases daily.[3] Certain groups of people including the young, elderly, and people who work primarily outside are even more susceptible to injury resulting from increased temperatures.[4]
Currently, injury caused by high temperatures is the leading cause of death related to extreme weather conditions in the United States.[5] Heat can cause death in a myriad of ways, organ failure and heart attacks are the two main causes of death by extreme heat.[6] These risks increase when an individual has no access to food, water, and a place to cool off.[7]
Manual laborers are uniquely susceptible to injury caused by extreme heat because their work often places them outside and in increased temperatures.[8] For example, although construction workers only comprise 6% of the total U.S. labor force, they account for 36% of all occupational injuries attributed to extreme heat between 1992 and 2016.[9] These statistics suggest that manual laborers are already feeling the effects of extreme heat; a phenomenon that will likely continue as temperatures continue to rise.[10]
Given the risk of death being high as seen by the staggering statistic previously mentioned, it is natural to ask what has been done to prevent heat related deaths in manual workers? Unfortunately for manual laborers, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) does not have specific rules dedicated to protecting employees from heat related injury. [11] Given that OSHA does not have any standard for heat protection, “compliance rests on employers, and their interpretation of what reasonable protections include,” this means that employers determine things like if to give water breaks or shade breaks. [12] Even if OSHA were to consider creating heat protection standards, that process could take up to nineteen years[13] Moreover, on the state level, legislative delays additionally preclude the creation of meaningful heat protection standards for manual laborers.[14]
Given that temperatures increases are inevitable, it is paramount that these workers are well equipped to handle the changing temperatures.[15] Government agencies must create a better system to report heat related deaths, this will help regulatory agencies like OSHA grasp the full scope of consequences of extreme heat.[16] If the need for heat safety regulations becomes obvious, federal and state agencies may work through administrative delays and enact legislation necessary to protect manual laborers.[17]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHBL or Suffolk University Law School.
Karla is a 2L at Suffolk Law School. She has taken an interest in corporate regulation as well as governmental safety regulation. She is originally from Washington, D.C. but moved to Boston to pursue her undergraduate degree. She completed her undergraduate degree at Boston University.
[1] See Rebecca Lindsey and Luann Dahlman, Climate Change: Global Temperature, Climate (Jan. 18, 2023), https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature#:~:text=Highlights,0.18%C2%B0%20C [https://perma.cc/23UT-LMD8].
[2] See id. “NOAA’s 2021 Annual Climate Report the combined land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.14 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since 1880; however, the average rate of increase since 1981 has been more than twice as fast: 0.32 °F (0.18 °C) per decade.” Id.
[3] See Camilo Mora et al., Twenty Seven Ways a Heat Wave Can Kill You, AHA J. (Nov. 9, 2017), https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/circoutcomes.117.004233?ijkey=CSc4PMM6kWrG4h0&keytype=ref [https://perma.cc/2QQQ-YCMU]. “The area of the planet experiencing heat wave conditions similar to those that have killed people is expanding and is currently inhabited by ≈30% of the world’s human population.” Id. “[ A] recent analysis…found that by 2100, under current emission of greenhouse gasses, 3 of 4 people in the world will be exposed to deadly heat conditions every year…” Id.
[4] See id.
[5] See Maria Godoy, How heat Kills: What happens to the body in extreme temperatures, NPR ( July 23, 2023), https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/23/1189506023/heres-what-happens-to-the-body-in-extreme-temperatures-and-how-heat-becomes-dead [https://perma.cc/HQE7-ZJUR]. “Extreme heat kills more people than hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods combined.” Id.; Climate Change Indicators: Heat Related Deaths, EPA (April 2021), https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-heat-related-deaths#:~:text=Heat%20is%20the%20leading%20weather,heat%2Devents%2Dguidebook [https://perma.cc/8ESE-FZZ3].
[6] See Godoy, supra note 5. Organ failure occurs due to your body trying to cool itself by redirecting blood to the skin. Id. This causes the gut to become more permeable due to a lack of blood and oxygen. Id. This leads to the endotoxins in the gut to leak out which causes the white blood cells to attack and produces blood clots which leads to organ failure. Id. Heart attacks due to heat are caused because heat causes the heart to pump faster, and these spikes can lead to heart attacks for some people. Id. People with underlying health conditions and the elderly are much more susceptible to a potential heart attack related to heat. Id. Kidney failure occurs due to people sweating in large amounts due to the heat which causes a strain on the kidneys. Id. High heat can also cause Rhabdomyolysis. Id.
[7] See Denise Chow, Heat Kills More in U.S. Each Year Than Any Other Extreme Weather Event, NBC News (Aug. 2, 2022), https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/heat-waves-deadliest-weather-event-united-states-rcna41129 [https://perma.cc/MB5L-MXFV].; see also Godoy, supra note 5. Extreme heat poses another danger as experts say that there is no absolute temperature at which extreme heat can turn dangerous. Id.; Moro, supra note 3. Experts also claim that “some physical resilience to heat may be gained through acclimation but numerous constraints prevent humans from rapidly evolving higher heat tolerance.” Id.
[8] See Mara Hoplamazian, New England workers face extra hazards from heat and few specific workplace protections, WBUR (Sept. 08, 2023), https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/09/08/workers-hazards-heat-climate-temperatures-osha [https://perma.cc/J9SY-DG8J]. “Indoor workers in warehouses, kitchens, laundromats, and food processing facilities can be at the highest risk to that kind of extreme heat, along with outdoor workers in landscaping, roofing, and construction.” Id.; See Godoy, supra note 5.
[A]nother danger to the kidneys that people who work physically demanding jobs in high heat outdoors face. Rhabdomyolysis causes muscle tissue to break down, releasing proteins into the blood that can clog kidneys. This usually occurs in the acute phase of heatstroke. [T]here’s also some evidence that habitually working outdoors in high heat without proper hydration can increase the risk of chronic kidney disease.
Id.
[9] See Xiuwen Sue Dong et al., Heat-related deaths among construction workers in the United States, Nat’l Libr. of med. (July 22, 2019), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31328819/ [https://perma.cc/5E52-N7SY].
[10] See Climate Change Indicators: Heat Related Deaths, supra note 5. “[E]xtreme heat events (heat waves) have become more frequent and intense, and these trends are expected to continue. As a result, the risk of heat-related deaths and illness is also expected to increase.” Id.
[11] See Hoplamazian, supra note 8.; see also Heat Hazard Recognition, Occupational Safety and Health Admin., https://www.osha.gov/heat-exposure/hazards [ https://perma.cc/Q6AJ-6UAP] (acknowledging that OSHA recognizes a heat hazard).
[12] See Hoplamazian, supra note 8.
[13] See Hoplamazian, supra note 8.
[14] See Barbara Barrett, Many states decline to require water breaks for outdoor workers in extreme heat, Md. Matters (June 21, 2023), https://www.marylandmatters.org/2023/06/21/many-states-decline-to-require-water-breaks-for-outdoor-workers-in-extreme-heat/ [https://perma.cc/PW6S-YFU4].
In state after state, lawmakers and regulators have in recent years declined to require companies to offer their outdoor laborers rest breaks with shade and water. In some cases, legislation failed to gain traction. In others, state regulators decided against action or have taken years to write and release rules.
Id.
[15] See Hoplamazian, supra note 8. The director of the Immigrant Worker Center at the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health stated that workers will need a myriad of resources to combat the challenges posed by climate change producing these extreme heat weather conditions. Id. According to the director, workers will need access to personal protective equipment, the flexibility to take a break in the shade, air-conditioned spaces, and enough water. Id.
[16] See Miriam Wasser, Most New England states don’t track “heat-related” deaths. Experts say that’s a problem, NHPR (Aug. 21, 2023), https://www.nhpr.org/2023-08-31/new-england-heat-waves-mortality-excess-deaths-climate-change [https://perma.cc/47CB-PXK8].
[M]any deaths where heat plays a role aren’t counted as “heat deaths” on death certificates. And without accurate and consistent information about people who are dying, it’s challenging to know whether community and government efforts to address heat resiliency are working.Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the country’s top public health agency, lack standardized criteria for determining heat-related deaths. It relies on data from states.
Id.
[17] See Barrett, supra note 14.