At April 11, 2024signed Governor DeSantis House Bill 433 come into force and are scheduled to come into force on July 1, 2024. Among other things, the legislation prevents city and county governments from requiring employers, including government contractors, to provide outdoor workers with heat protection devices in excess of those required by state or federal law. These protective measures include requiring water breaks and other cooling measures for field workers. The law also prohibits local governments from favoring employers based on their heat stress policies. In response to the legislation, Miami-Dade county commissioners withdrew their pending proposal to impose heat safety standards for field workers in the county. Florida is the second state, after Texas, to adopt a policy that prevents local ordinances from requiring certain heat protection measures, including water shutoffs. This analysis shows that the law could impact nearly 1.8 million non-elderly adult outdoor workers in Florida, who are disproportionately Hispanic and non-citizen immigrants. It is based on a KFF analysis of 2022 American Community Survey data.
In Florida, Hispanic and non-citizen immigrants make up a disproportionate share of the remote workers affected by the law. Hispanic workers make up 40% of the non-elderly adult field workforce, compared to 30% of the total non-elderly adult workforce, and non-citizen immigrants make up nearly double their share of the labor force (22% vs. 12%). (Illustration 1). Among field workers, these groups make up a particularly large proportion of workers in transportation, field cleaning, construction, and agriculture (Appendix Figure 1).
These guidelines were issued amid a recent increase in the frequency, duration and intensity of climate change-related events heat waves within in the US, which have led to wildfires, air pollution and record-breaking hot days. Last year, Florida experienced its hottest year on record since 1895, with surface temperatures reaching 177 degrees Fahrenheit in some locations. Last year, some hospital systems in Florida saw a sharp increase in emergencies related to heat-related illnesses. In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) sued a contractor in South Florida for failing to provide heat protection measures following the death of a migrant farmworker from heat-related injuries in 2023. It is likely that additional heat-related deaths have occurred. Heat-related injuries and deaths are suspected to be vastly undercounted, and research shows that extreme heat is associated with higher overall mortality.
Workers who work outdoors are exposed to high temperatures and suffer disproportionately high rates of heat-related ailments Illnesses and deathswho also have economic impact. Research studies have found that agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting and construction workers have the highest heat-related mortality rates. Without mitigation strategies, the threats associated with extreme heat are expected to increase due to climate change. According to a 2021 study, extreme heat-related worker productivity losses could cost Florida up to $52 billion by 2050. Additionally, another report concludes that if left unchecked, extreme heat could threaten the total annual earnings of Florida outdoor workers by $8.4 billion by 2065. Black and Hispanic people and non-citizen immigrants are likely to be hit hardest because they are overrepresented in many outdoor jobs. Aside from increased risk of climate-related health risks due to their work, people of color, immigrants, and other underserved groups also face increased climate-related health risks due to structural inequities such as higher rates of poverty and uninsurance, as well as immigration-related fears.
As of April 2024, six states (CA, CO, MN, NV, OR and WA) have occupational heat protection standards for outdoor workers and Maryland is in the process of developing its own heat stress standard. MN and OR also have heat protection devices for indoor workers, and CA is in the process of developing heat protection standards for indoor workers. Last year, the federal government took action to protect workers from extreme heat, including issuing the first heat hazard warning and increasing the DOL’s enforcement of inspections of heat safety violations. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has recommendations for preventing heat stress in the workplace, including training workers to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses and to recognize changing work conditions to reduce heat exposure and associated health risks to reduce. In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a general duty clause that requires employers to provide their employees with a workplace that is “free from recognized hazards that will cause death or serious harm to employees or being able to lead”. This also includes heat-related hazards. However, there are currently no federal heat protection standards for workers. OSHA is in the process of developing federal standards for heat protection for indoor and outdoor workers, but there is no information on when these will be completed.
As the country enters the summer months and scientists estimate there is a one in three chance that 2024 will be hotter than 2023, efforts to raise awareness and understanding of the dangers associated with extreme heat exposure will be important. to reduce the negative health effects caused by extreme heat effects. Continued action to mitigate climate-related health risks for workers will be important as the impacts of climate change continue to increase.
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