Nineteen of 219 heat-related complaints OSHA received from mid-June to late July were from agricultural or processing sites. OSHA provided the complaint data to the Statesman Journal. 'Something I'm passionate about': Children of farmworkers work to further their education OSHA received a number of complaints related to water, shade and breaks in high temperatures from agricultural worksites over the summer. She also said some of them asked a supervisor for shade in the greenhouse but were denied, according to the comment. Water was located three to five minutes from the worksite, but he knows it could be easier to access because other growers keep water closer to the orchards, he said.Ī nursery worker commented through Valentín Sánchez, also at the Oregon Law Center, that she worried about her co-workers who work under plastic greenhouses, where the sunlight diffuses the heat and there’s no shade. One wrote to OSHA through Julie Samples, at the Oregon Law Center, and described struggling to take breaks and drink water during high temperatures at an orchard because he is paid by the amount he harvests and must meet a quota. Two farmworkers submitted comments to OSHA. Workers could also submit written comments for a little over a week after the sessions, with no need to state their names, employers or other identifying details in either venue. But some advisory group members said OSHA, in announcing the sessions five days before the first one, did not provide enough time to get the word out to workers.
The agency held two listening sessions to solicit more feedback on the temporary rules directly from workers in September. The temporary rules went into effect immediately and remain in place for 180 days. In August, the agency released temporary rules on wildfire smoke, which include requiring employers to make respirators available when the air quality index, or AQI, passes 101, requiring their use when the AQI exceeds 201, and requiring fit-tested respirators when the AQI is greater than 501. They go into effect when the heat index passes 80 degrees, with an additional set of requirements when the heat index passes 90 degrees. The temporary heat rules centered on specific requirements around shade, drinking water and employee and supervisor training. Kate Brown ordered Oregon OSHA to develop temporary rules around working in high temperatures.
Paul during June’s record-breaking heatwave, Gov. Temporary rulesĪfter Sebastian Francisco Perez, a 38-year-old farmworker from Guatemala, died while working at Ernst Nursery & Farms in St. The agency received two comments directly from farmworkers, but worker advocates and employer groups highlighted how the rules have played out. The advisory group of employers, industry associations and environmental and workers' advocates from fields including agriculture, construction and forestry has met since March to discuss the proposed rules, and Oregon OSHA recently sought worker comments as part of the process. The agency previously had general requirements around water, shade and breaks, which worker advocates said were difficult to enforce.Īfter pandemic delays and a year of record-high temperatures and wildfires, state officials and their advisory group are close to completing final draft rules. Kate Brown ordered Oregon OSHA, the state's workplace safety agency, to develop specific rules to keep workers safe from excessive heat and wildfire smoke.
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