OSHA, the federal agency charged with protecting you on the job, can do little or nothing if your boss orders you to work outside in the searing summer sun.
There is plenty of evidence saying that working outdoors at specific temperatures and humidity is extremely harmful and dangerous, but no legal obligation for employers to provide more rest/water breaks and shade the hotter it gets.
We have a construction crew next door everyday building a new warehouse and I’m happy to see that they call it quits on days the temp spikes up past 100. There is zero shade around here mid day, and they’re basically working out in the middle of a huge concrete slab currently. Most of the time they start early and end early with the exception of a few guys hanging around to unload flatbed with incoming materials. Very rare, but it seems a few firms out there do care about their employees well being.
I find this to be a big problem.
There is plenty of evidence saying that working outdoors at specific temperatures and humidity is extremely harmful and dangerous, but no legal obligation for employers to provide more rest/water breaks and shade the hotter it gets.
We have a construction crew next door everyday building a new warehouse and I’m happy to see that they call it quits on days the temp spikes up past 100. There is zero shade around here mid day, and they’re basically working out in the middle of a huge concrete slab currently. Most of the time they start early and end early with the exception of a few guys hanging around to unload flatbed with incoming materials. Very rare, but it seems a few firms out there do care about their employees well being.
We do this as well. Left site at 12:30 yesterday as it was starting to get too hot in the building