Heat Kills: Working in High Temperatures is Dangerous
Workers in the Inland Empire face high heat on the job at indoor and outdoor worksites.
The Warehouse Worker Resource Center alongside warehouse workers has been fighting – and winning – for protections from these dangerous conditions.
The hottest years on record have occurred in the last ten years and that means the dangers of working in high heat are even more serious. Unfortunately, employers do not always take the necessary precautions to protect employees.
Protections from heat are a basic human right and workers are also protected by the California law. If you have experienced heat at your workplace you are probably not alone. Reach out to an organizer for more information.
Contact an Organizer
Report: Workers Document High Heat
WWRC Education Director on Working in Heat
Resources for Workers
Timeline
- 2005 – California implements a standard for outdoor worksites after four farmworkers die of heat-related illness
- 2011 – Domingo Blancas fell ill while working on a hot day at a warehouse in Chino, Calif.
- 2012 – Warehouse workers, clergy and community members launched a pilgrimage from the Inland Empire to Downtown Los Angeles. The WalMarch was a 6-day, 50-mile march from Ontario to downtown Los Angeles to bring attention to high heat and poor working conditions in Walmart’s domestic supply chain.
- 2015 – A long legal fight sustained by Cal/OSHA, the WWRC, Worksafe and the Alexander Community Law Center, concluded after the California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board upheld a citation regarding Blancas’ safety. The ruling made a clear statement that warehouse employers must take the risk of indoor heat seriously.
- 2016 – Sen. Connie Leyva introduces Senate Bill 1167, a bill that calls on the Occupational Health and Safety Standards Board to adopt a heat illness and injury prevention standard for all indoor employees at risk of heat illness.
- 2016 – Senate Bill 1167 is signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown
- 2022 – In the midst of a heatwave, Amazon warehouse workers document high temperatures at a warehouse in San Bernardino
- May 2023 – Four and a half years after the deadline, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board holds its first public hearing on the indoor heat standard. Amazon warehouse workers testify.
- July 2023 – Amazon warehouse workers file a complaint with Cal/OSHA as temperatures break records and workers risk illness
- January 2024 – Amazon is cited for putting workers in danger with limited access to shade, water and rest in high heat
- March 2024 – The Cal/OSHA Standards Board unanimously approved the protections nearly five years after the deadline, but the Dept. of Finance raised concerns the night before the vote, throwing the future of the protections into uncertainty.
- April 2024 – More than 50 organizations and leaders sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom calling on him to ensure the protections are fully implemented with no exemptions before this summer.
- April 2024 – Cal/OSHA said it would revise the proposed indoor heat rule for all workers statewide to remove “state and local correctional facilities” from protections.
- June 2024 – Gov. Gavin Newsom removed one member and demoted the chair of the Cal/OSHA Standards Board.
- June 20, 2024 – Members of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted to pass the heat protections
- July 23, 2024 – California’s indoor heat protections go into effect immediately.
Long Fight for Heat Protections
In 2005, the heat-related deaths of four farmworkers prompted California to adopt an outdoor heat illness prevention rule, which requires shade and water when the temperature hits 80 degrees and, for farming and construction work, additional breaks and monitoring when it hits 95.
In 2016 the Warehouse Worker Resource Center along with then Sen. Connie Leyva supported legislation that would create similar standards for indoor workers. The legislation came after Domingo Blancas, a warehouse worker in Chino, Calif., fell ill while working on a hot summer day. He was hospitalized and had to have emergency surgery. Cal/OSHA, which was already investigating the facility, cited the warehouse operator and the temp agency for which Blancas worked. The warehouse operators did not have a plan to mitigate the effects of heat for workers, a common problem in the many warehouses in Southern California.
The California Legislature passed SB 1167, Leyva’s bill, and Gov. Gerry Brown signed it into law in 2016. The legislation called for new standards to protect workers at indoor worksites like warehouses and restaurants.
Workers at Walmart, Amazon and other warehouses regularly experience high heat. It might not seem dangerous at first, but heat impacts the body in different ways and even healthy people experience heat illness. Find resources for workers here.
Workers marched from the Inland Empire to Los Angeles to raise awareness about the working conditions in the Walmart supply chain. Amazon warehouse workers raised concerns about heat and won fans and access to water. They also filed a complaint with Cal/OSHA after weeks of scorching temperatures and poor safety protections. Cal/OSHA opened an on-site inspection and in 2024 the agency cited Amazon for endangering workers in the high heat.
In May 2023, a group of warehouse workers from the Inland Empire testified before the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board about the urgent need for indoor heat protections for workers in physical occupations and workers released new data that shows heat illness is a top concern for warehouse workers.
Finally in 2024, California established the new protections for workers laboring in indoor workplaces.
