Protecting farm workers from heat stress

After three farm workers in California died from heat stroke last July, Cal-OSHA adopted a new standard, which is temporary because it was unable to devise a permanent standard in time for the most recent harvest season.

The standard requires employers to provide at least one quart of drinking water per employee per hour, access to shade for employees needing to prevent or recover from heat illness symptoms and training in prevention and response to heat illness.

The training alerts farm workers to the different types and symptoms of heat illness, the best methods for avoiding them, the procedures for reporting symptoms and the employers responsibility to respond to them.