NJ pols push bill to protect workers from heat

Efforts have been met with protests, letters

By: Daniel Munoz
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Amazon workers at warehouses across New Jersey have complained of heat-illness symptoms in recent years, and one died in 2022.
..... Similarly, U.S. postal workers in several New Jersey locations were hospitalized with dehydration or heat exhaustion that year. [2022] A New Jersey trash collector died in 2022 after working in temperatures that reached 96 degree. And in Bedminister, a roofer who was found unconscious on the ground after toiling away in 101-degree heat that year [2022] later died at the hospital.
..... As New Jersey swelters once again under a week-long heat wave, both the Biden administration and New Jersey state lawmakers are pushing for what's known as a "heat standard," a way to protect workers form overheating on the job.
..... Attention has focused on New Jersey's efforts, which have been met with protests, hours of testimony and competing letters sent to state leaders.
..... The deaths and rash of illnesses, such as dehydration and heat stroke, point to a growing trended that labor advocates say will worsen in the years to come.
..... As climate change fosters weeks-long heat waves, labor advocates warn that working conditions will become more dangerous and workers will face greater risk of illness of death form the heat.
..... Twelve of the 15 hottest summers since 1895 were after the year 2000, according to the state climatologist David Robinson.
..... And there were 181 heat stroke deaths between 2000 and 2020, according to figures from the state Department of Heath.
..... The bill I question would require employers to establish a heat-related illness and injury prevention plan. employees would have to provide access to cold water, paid rest and shade. Non-urgent tasks would have to be postponed during heat waves.
..... Workers would have the means to easily communicate with their employer about heat-related illnesses.
..... The bill would empower state labor officials to issue stop-work orders for job sites determined to not be taking adequate safety measures during heat waves.
..... Both a state Senate and Assembly bill recently moved through their respective committees last month. [05/2024] But amendments would push back the effective date of the bill to June 2025, rather than this summer, [2024] as initially proposed.
..... The full state Senate and Assembly would then have to approve the measure, and Governor Phil Murphy sign it.
..... State Senate Joseph Cryan, D-Union, the bill's sponsor, said he did not believed the bill would pass the Legislature before June 30, [2024] when budget talks wrap up and state lawmakers break for the summer.
..... "The organized opposition against it, in my view ... puts the bill in a position that it just can't move forward,," Cryan said.

Where groups stand

..... Business groups have been widely opposed to the measure, saying it would hobble their ability to function during warmer weather, add to their challenges as businesses cope with worker shortages and high inflation, and cerate confusion given that a federal standard was already in the works.
..... "While excessive heat presents a hazard that must be addressed, employers have proven that they can provide safe workplaces for employees during these times," reads a letter signed by nearly 30 business organizations and trade groups, including the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, a trade organization and lobbying group.
..... The proposal would interfere with outdoor work like agriculture, roadwork and construction, said state Sean tor Mike Testa, R-Cumberland.
..... But unions and labor activists argue that without a federal standard, the New Jersey protections would be vital.
..... "As climate change advances, inadequately protected workers are in the cross-hairs," reads a letter by more than 30 workers right's groups and labor unions - including the activist group Make the Road New Jersey - addressed to state lawmakers.
..... "If we don't start doing everything we can to guarantee the strongest and broadest workplace heat standard possible, we're planning to allow workers deaths to increase," the letter reads.

What rights do workers have?

..... The federal heat standard was first proposed by OSHA in 2021, and only just recently went to the White House for review, though there is no deadline to finish the review.
..... Workers facing extreme heat while on the job can contact state agencies like the Department of Labor, or federal agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
..... Right now, most of those requirements are covered under what's called the "General Duty Clause," which means the employer needs to keep the job site free of "recognized hazards" that could kill or hurt someone.
..... But the goal is to make heat standards their won category, which would grant OSHA broader leeway to enforce those rules.
..... After the rules were proposed, OSHA in 2022 began a "National emphasis Program," in which it expanded its existing public education campaign and now inspects job sites during heat waves. the focus is on 70 separate industries most at risk of heat illness, such as bakeries, farming, warehousing and mail delivery.
..... Under the 2022 announcement, inspections can start when a heat wave kicks in - that is, when the heat index hits 80 degrees Fahrenheit - and when the National Weather Service issues a heat warning or advisory for a local area.
..... Federal labor officials say there have been 5,416 theatre-realted workplace inspections in New Jersey since the National Emphasis's Program started in April 2022.
..... A business that blatantly disregards worker safety during a heat wave could get a citation and be hit with financial penalties.
..... Once the heat wave hits, inspectors go out in the field and look at such factors as how the businesses keeps its staff form overheating, whether there's easy access to cold water and shade; how the boss is scheduling water and rest breaks; and how new staff members are being acclimated to working in warmer weather.
..... "The campaign is not enforcement; the campaign is only education." Richard Menedlson, OSHA's regional administration for New York and New Jersey, has said.

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