Outdoor Workers

Laborers have suffered in extreme heat triggered by climate change. Deaths aren’t inevitable, and employers can save lives by providing ample water and breaks, researchers say.

According to the National Centers for Environmental Information’s Global Climate Report, this year will rank among the five warmest years in history and has a 61% chance of being the hottest in recorded history.

On this episode of Florida Matters, we explore what the bill means for these workers. We also speak with a journalist about her investigation into the working conditions for hurricane cleanup workers.

On this episode of Florida Matters, we explore what the bill means for these workers. We also speak with a journalist about her investigation into the working conditions for hurricane cleanup workers.

The Miami-Dade County Commission withdrew the bill because they couldn’t legally pass it after Florida’s legislature passed a bill banning any local government from setting their own heat enforcement rules.

As Miami-Dade County considers new standards for outdoor workers on the back of a record-breaking summer, Florida lawmakers look set to pass legislation which would make local heat protections "void and prohibited" — while also delaying for four years the state’s own ability to enact standards.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has taken steps that effectively eliminate mandated water breaks for construction workers. In response, protesters came to Washington, D.C., to press for federal protections.

Efforts to establish protections for outdoor workers in Florida against the impacts of extreme heat have failed at the federal, state and local levels.

A new report shows that people who work outdoors in all 67 Florida counties frequently work in dangerously hot conditions as climate change leads to...