Four days after starting his job on a sugar cane farm in Belle Glade, Florida, a 26-year-old worker suffered fatal heat-related injuries while working in an open field as the heat index reached 97 degrees, reports OSHA.
The agency reported on April 15, 2024, that an investigation found that McNeill Labor Management Inc. of Belle Glade could have prevented his death by implementing safety rules to protect workers from heat-related hazards. These include using an effective plan to help workers acclimate to the weather conditions.
OSHA investigators learned the worker, sitting atop stacks of sugar cane on a trailer as he tossed them to the ground for planting, began experiencing symptoms consistent with heat-related illness and complaining of not feeling well. Shortly after, he collapsed. He later died, stricken by heatstroke.
“This young man’s life ended on his first day on the job because his employer did not fulfill its duty to protect employees from heat exposure, a known and increasingly dangerous hazard,” said OSHA Area Director Condell Eastmond in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in a release. “Had McNeill Labor Management made sure its workers were given time to acclimate to working in brutally high temperatures with required rest breaks, the worker might not have suffered a fatal injury.”
Florida bill prevents cities, counties from pursuing heat ordinances
The citation comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill last week barring local governments from requiring heat protection for outdoor workers.
The bill passed Florida's Senate in March 2024 and goes into effect July 1. It restricts local governments from “meeting or providing heat exposure requirements beyond those required by law."
“Overheating is one of the most common and most serious dangers in the workplace,” Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.), who recently co-authored a federal bill ordering OSHA to regulate heat exposure, told HuffPost. “Is requiring a glass of water and some shade too much to ask?”
“Someone is going to die as a result of this legislation,” Kim Smith, a telecommunications technician, told HuffPost last month.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 56 workers in 2020 and 36 in 2021 have died from heat exposure. From 2010 to 2020, Florida recorded 215 deaths directly related to heat, according to the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, reported UPI.
The new law comes after 2023 was the hottest year in recorded history, with much of the United States suffering weeks of high humidity and record-breaking temperatures.
After its investigation, OSHA cited McNeill Labor with one serious violation for exposing workers to hazards associated with high ambient heat while working in direct sunlight. Federal investigators also found that the employer did not report the worker’s hospitalization or eventual death, both of which the law requires be reported. McNeill Labor Management faces $27,655 in proposed penalties, an amount set by federal statute.
