大象传媒

Summer in California is here in the Inland Empire, a Southern stretch of the state that鈥檚 of warehousing, packaging, and shipping. Outside the hulking warehouses that line the area鈥檚 freeways, a steady rumble of trucks contributes to in surrounding communities of color. Meanwhile, an army of laborers unloads trucks, palletizes products, packs individual orders, and criss-crosses warehouse floors, most under the oppressive heat of large, poorly-ventilated spaces that can feel 鈥渟uffocating,鈥� says Victor Ramirez, who has been working in warehouses for 20 years.

鈥淚t feels very bad working in the warehouse when it gets hot,鈥� he says in Spanish, through a translator. 鈥淭he hot air gets stuck, and having to drive the equipment or be around it, it gets really hot.鈥�

Sweating, head pounding, Ramirez operates heavy equipment to ensure that pallets of goods flow steadily through a facility delivering products to Costco and Sam鈥檚 Club. He鈥檚 working under the constant pressure of quotas, aware that supervisory eyes are on him every time he takes a break to get some water.

Approximately work in warehouses like Ramirez. Some 160,000 of those workers are in California, working in what California鈥檚 Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, terms a 鈥溾�� industry. 

In the Inland Empire, the increased emissions caused by the warehouse industry are a direct contributor to climate change, as is the built environment more broadly, which creates a that raises temperatures even more. 

Like Ramirez, most workers dread summers, especially as climate change is increasing the number of high-temperature days. This year, that dread is tinged with frustration: Eight years after the legislature to establish an indoor heat standard to protect workers like Ramirez from hot working conditions by 2019, the agency finally that was almost immediately derailed by protests from another state agency, the . It, along with the state鈥檚 Department of Finance and by heat protections for indoor workers, claimed the standard would be too costly, despite a finding that 鈥渢he anticipated benefits of the proposed regulation, primarily improvements in worker health and productivity, exceed the anticipated costs.鈥� On June 20鈥攖he first day of summer鈥攖he agency to address these objections by exempting prisons from the regulation. It could go into effect as early as August if state regulators agree to fast-track it.

With momentum on indoor heat protections for most workers finally being realized, Ramirez, among others, will be keeping a close eye on Cal/OSHA to see if the agency makes good on its . Heat is hazardous for not just carceral workers, but incarcerated workers鈥攚ho are not necessarily covered by Cal/OSHA in the first place, explains AnaStacia Nicol Wright, policy manager at worker advocacy organization Worksafe. Wright notes that all incarcerated people, including workers, often swelter in conditions that can be. Of Cal/OSHA鈥檚 regulatory exemption for prisons, Wright adds, 鈥渋t always does beg that question of racism and incarceration.鈥�

Nevertheless, California worker-organizers and groups that have been steadily advocating for indoor heat standards and are looking to this landmark moment in heat regulation as a sign of hope. Worksafe is one such group, which has been with testimony and written submissions at state hearings and played an important role in organizing around the state鈥檚 development and implementation of a standard. The worker-led , which engages in education and worker actions, is another example, along with . 

Setting Standards

Indoor heat standards create a framework for regulating workplaces that get dangerously hot, including warehouses, commercial kitchens, and the bowels of sprawling parking structures. Heat illness can cause severe symptoms,. Repeat heat exposures can be especially risky and may cause problems such as. 

At least 436 indoor and outdoor workers nationwide died because of high heat. Those deaths are likely an undercount: Cal/OSHA as well as its federal counterpart depend on companies to report these fatalities, and a 2021 NPR investigation observed that Cal/OSHA鈥檚 recordkeeping on the subject was 鈥�.鈥�

Higher temperatures are also associated with a. For overall health and safety, it鈥檚 critical to protect workers with basic safety measures, including proper ventilation, access to cool water and places to recover from heat, and rest breaks. In the absence of a federal standard on heat for indoor or outdoor workers, only provide guidance for indoor workers. Washington, Oregon, and California have extended protections to outdoor workers, but some states actually go in the opposite direction. Florida just passed a law from setting their own heat standards, for example, following a growing GOP trend to pass state-level preemption laws that block more liberal municipalities and counties from passing ordinances and regulations related to labor,, and, among other issues. 

A national standard would address these issues, protecting workers in every state, . On July 2, 2024, the Department of Labor 聽that it would be issuing a 听颈苍 the Federal Register, setting the stage for a comment period and public hearing to implement a standard covering indoor and outdoor workers nationwide. However, given the 听颈苍 Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council curtailing the power of regulatory agencies, and depending on the outcome of the presidential election in November, a federal standard or may be subject to litigation.

Without formal heat regulation, it can be challenging to hold employers accountable for dangerous conditions, as seen in San Bernardino in July 2023 when Cal/OSHA inspectors were.

鈥淭hese are jobs we go to [in order to] make a living. Nobody should be dying at work. Who wants to go to work and die? Of all the ways you could die, to die at your employer because you were trying to make a living and they couldn鈥檛 be bothered to make sure you were safe鈥︹�� says Worksafe鈥檚 Wright, her voice trailing off as she reflects on the suffering across California鈥檚 sweltering indoor workplaces.

鈥淔or folks who might not know, particularly in the Inland Empire, it鈥檚 very hot,鈥�  says Tim Shadix of the Warehouse Worker Resource Center. 鈥淚n the worst warehouses there鈥檚 not good climate control or air conditioning. It can get as hot or hotter inside as the temperature outside. In the Inland Empire that鈥檚 easily in the 90s or triple digits.鈥� The Southern California Association of Governments notes that the number of extreme heat days鈥斺�攊n some areas of the region . 

California鈥檚 regulation will require access to drinking water and cool places to recover from heat exposures when indoor temperatures rise above 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Workers wearing restrictive clothing (such as PPE) or working in areas with radiant heat, such as the equipment Ramirez works with, would be entitled to more protections. At 87 degrees or higher, workplaces would also be required to use 鈥渆ngineering controls鈥� (such as ventilation) to lower and control temperatures. Worksafe in arguing that protections should kick in at 75 degrees, or around 71 degrees for workers doing moderate and heavy labor. 

鈥淭he temperatures are high if we鈥檙e just sitting out and having lunch with our family, and high if we鈥檙e at the beach,鈥� UPS employee Robert Moreno told the Department of Industrial Relations at a . 鈥淏ut now think about these temperatures inside of a warehouse that鈥檚 been sitting in the sun all day long. Most of these warehouses are sheet metal鈥攕un radiates inside all day long. You go into these warehouses, there鈥檚 zero to no airflow, very [stifling] heat.鈥�

Outdoor Heat

Indoor workers aren鈥檛 the only ones wilting in the heat. Poor conditions for outdoor workers, especially farmworkers, are a perennial theme of hot summers. California was actually an early trendsetter in adopting an, which mandates access to clean drinking water and requires shaded places to rest when outdoor temperatures exceed 80 degrees. Employers are also required to allow agricultural workers a 10-minute cooldown period at a minimum of every two hours when temperatures soar above 95.

Temperatures are, as seen in 2020 when farms took advantage of their 鈥溾�� to keep workers onsite in the midst of wildfire evacuations, and again this June when agricultural workers were once again 鈥溾�� to enter areas under evacuation to work. Those workers were sent out even when the air was from wildfires with the express goal of bringing in crops before they were smoke-tainted. 

California requires employers to 鈥渙ffer鈥� N-95 masks and other PPE on days with poor air quality, but that requirement isn鈥檛 necessarily honored, and some may not even be aware of this entitlement. And a more robust version of that bill would have included 鈥渟trike team鈥� workplace enforcement that created a framework for inspectors to to enforce protections. That measure was stripped from the final version.

Incentivizing Protections

Although regulation is a key component, it鈥檚 not the only way workers can access protections. The same Florida workers affected by the state鈥檚 ban on local heat standards have found other ways of holding employers accountable. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers鈥�, for example, includes a that growers can follow to achieve certification, with the worker-led organization targeting large corporate clients such as, calling on them to purchase from qualified growers. 

Similarly, the model helps workers across industries, including the warehouse industry through groups like the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, . Similarly, sectoral bargaining such as allows workers in the same industry to collaborate on setting standards that will apply across that industry.

But regulation is not sufficient if it鈥檚 not enforced, or if workers are not provided with the tools to understand it.

鈥淲orkers are asking for employers to train their workers so they know what to look out for, and that also includes the managers,鈥� says Ramirez. 鈥淭he workers and the employers need to be aware of the symptoms to look out for, and prevent them, as they鈥檙e happening. When we feel overheated, we need time to rest so we won鈥檛 get to a point where we faint. To rest, workers need a place to sit, they also need water close and accessible.鈥�  

Training also includes worker engagement and transparency, , including 鈥減osting heat illness risk assessments in work areas [and] ensuring workers鈥� rights to measure temperatures with their own instrument.鈥� Notably, in 2021, the Supreme Court requiring union access to worksites during nonworking hours, which allowed organizations such as United Farmworkers to visit workers onsite for labor organizing and education, critical to ensuring that workers know their rights.   

Workers must be protected from reprisal for reporting unsafe conditions, an issue that has . This is particularly critical for who may fear the consequences of speaking out, a valid fear given who say the company threatened and eventually terminated an employee for his organizing work, including efforts to address dangerously hot temperatures in Amazon Air warehouses in the Inland Empire. The Department of Homeland Security recently addressed the chilling effect created when employers to silence immigrant workers, creating legal protections for workers coming forward to report workplace violations, but such protections are only effective if workers are aware of them.

鈥淭hey take more time and more money to protect the products, the things making money for the business,鈥� says Ramirez of industry resistance to regulations. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not taking time to protect workers.鈥�

Moreno鈥檚 testimony at the Department of Industrial Relations spoke to hopes for a better future: 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 asking from you guys is, 20 years from now, I want someone to look back at what this Board did and say, 鈥淥kay, in 2023 California did it right. They set standards that are above and beyond.鈥� I want other states to look at California and say, 鈥楥alifornia is doing it right. They are putting people over profits.鈥欌��

UPDATE: This story was updated at 3:06 p.m. on July 9, 2024, to include new developments, including the Department of Labor鈥檚 July 2 announcement that it would be issuing a proposed rule in the Federal Register that could implement national heat standards for indoor and outdoor workplaces. Read our corrections policy here.