Did you know that in 2019, 43 workers died from exposure to extreme heat? That at least 2,400 others suffered serious heat-related injuries and illnesses? That these injuries were actually underreported?
Due to climate change, extreme weather will likely continue, and the heat-related injuries will only get worse. That’s why the Biden administration has launched a program to help prevent more deaths and injuries due to heat.
For AFGE, this means protecting members who work outdoors for the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management, and indoors, such as laundry workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs and warehouse workers at the Department of Defense facilities, among others.
This month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is starting the rulemaking process to develop a standard to protect workers from hazards of extreme heat, both indoors and outdoors.
As part of this process, OSHA is planning to make the following changes:
“These efforts will focus much needed attention on preventable heat-related illness and fatalities as heat exposure has become more of a hazard due to the intensity of recent heat waves. It’s great to see OSHA making good use of the tools available to protect working people,” said AFGE Health and Safety Specialist Milly Rodriguez, who also chairs the Safety and Health Codes Board in Virginia, which, along with Maryland, has started the process of developing a heat-related hazard standard for businesses to follow.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has determined that management at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin in California violated OSHA standards by exposing staff and inmates to asbestos, validating a complaint filed by AFGE.
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AFGE District 10 was recently recognized for having the highest number of net increase of 2,839 new members in one year between Oct. 2022 and Oct. 2023.
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Holding signs that read “Dignity, Fairness, Respect”, a group of workers Nov. 21 stood in the rain in front of the Cincinnati VA hospital calling for better working conditions and fair treatment of the VA staff.
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