UE: Local 150 Members Join Coalition to Advocate for Heat Safety in North Carolina

From UE News | Photo Courtesy of ueunion.org | UE News Reuse Policy

RALEIGH, CHARLOTTE & SPRING HOPE, NC—Three workers in North Carolina died last year after being exposed to high temperatures while working. Alongside unions and advocates, UE Local 150 members are pushing for new safety policies to prevent future deaths. Members participated in rallies on December 8, 9, and 10 to urge state officials to finalize the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed standards for Heat Illness and Injury Prevention.

At the Raleigh event on December 9, Local 150 steward and utilities department worker for the City of Raleigh Joel Bryan said, “It is imperative that the state and federal government pass common-sense legislation to protect us.” Bryan urged state officials to pass the new OSHA regulations, noting that heat safety affects the workers “growing our food, working in a warehouse, responding to our emergencies, and maintaining our nation’s aging infrastructure.

“We as a society [need to] protect these workers and pass common-sense legislation to ensure that they are protected from the effects of heat related illnesses,” Bryan said. After the rally, members delivered a letter to the Department of Labor.

In a release sent by the coalition, advocates explained that according to the North Carolina Department of Labor (NC DOL), employers operate under the General Duty Clause which states, “Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees conditions of employment and a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious injury or serious physical harm to his employees.” Labor and health advocates maintain that this clause is insufficient to protect workers. In the absence of standardized requirements employers can interpret “free from recognized hazards” broadly, and workers are left without clear recourse to advocate for their safety.

The new OSHA standards, if passed, would require several interventions by employers to protect workers from heat. This would include developing and implementing a worksite heat injury and illness prevention plan (HIIPP) with site-specific information to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplace, identifying heat hazards in both outdoor and indoor work sites, and implementing control measures at or above a certain temperature. The new standards would apply to all employers conducting outdoor and indoor work in all general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture sectors where OSHA has jurisdiction.

Local 150 members were joined at the event by members of Toxic Free NC (TFNC), El Futuro Es Nuestro (It’s Our Future), The Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN), Hispanic Federation (HF), North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN), North Carolina Justice Center, and The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).