- The heatwave across the Southwest increases risks for outdoor workers, including construction crews.
- Some construction crews in Texas are no longer guaranteed water breaks under a new law.
- Heat is the top weather-related killer in the US and the climate crisis is making it more extreme.
The punishing heat gripping Texas and expanding across the Southeast is making it more dangerous for construction crews, utility linemen, farm workers, and others required to be outside to make a living.
Heat is the top weather-related killer in the US, and the risks are on the rise because the climate crisis is fueling more frequent and extreme heat waves. Climate Central, a nonprofit that quantifies the influence of the crisis on daily temperatures around the world, found that the excessive heat in parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mexico, and Central America was at least five times as likely to occur now as compared with pre-industrial times because of man-made climate change.
Scorching temperatures settled in Texas just as Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law that preempts local labor, agriculture, environmental, and other policies that don't align with state codes. Critics say the law will override the few protections that construction workers in Austin and Houston are guaranteed, including 10-minute breaks every four hours to drink water and rest in the shade.
"Those ordinances were fought for and won by construction workers because they were experiencing heat-related illnesses themselves or watched coworkers pass out on the job," said Daniela Hernandez, the state legislative coordinator for the Workers Defense Project, which advocates for low-wage immigrant workers in Texas.
Texas laws don't mandate that workers get breaks. At the national level, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recognizes that heat can be a workplace hazard, though it doesn't require employers to take specific actions to protect workers. The agency in 2021 started collecting information to help inform a national heat standard for indoor and outdoor workers, but a final rule could be years away. California, Minnesota, and Washington have developed their own OSHA-approved plans to protect workers from extreme heat.
The preemption law that Abbott signed takes effect September 1. Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, told Insider in a statement that ensuring the safety of Texans was a top priority as the state experienced high summer heat. Mahaleris said the law wouldn't prohibit people from taking water breaks. The bill's cosponsors in February said it would boost Texas' economy because businesses wouldn't be subject to contradictory and onerous regulations.
At least four people have died in Texas in the past three weeks during broiling-hot days. A teenage boy and his stepfather died hiking in Texas' Big Bend National Park on Friday, when temperatures reached 119 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Park Service. A US Postal Service worker in North Texas collapsed and died on the job during a sweltering day this month. And local officials said a utility lineman from West Virginia died after working to restore power in East Texas.
The utility worker's death was attributed to heat-related causes, while the other fatalities are still being investigated.
Hernandez told Insider that the Workers Defense Project worked closely with state Rep. Lulu Flores, a Democrat who represents Austin, on legislation that would establish a state heat-illness-prevention advisory board. Its task would be to develop standards to protect indoor and outdoor workers and to establish fines for employers that don't comply. The bill didn't go anywhere in the GOP-controlled state legislature.
"We know how to prevent heat-related deaths and illnesses," Hernandez said. "Access to drinking water and bathrooms, taking breaks in the shade — and there's also an education component that's important."