Secretary of Labor Solis travels to Florida to bring message on protecting workers from heat-related illnesses

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis traveled to Florida July 13 to take OSHA's message of Water-Rest-Shade to workers. Taking a tour and meeting with workers at a Florida Power and Light (FPL) generation plant in Dania Beach, the Secretary spoke to local media about the importance of OSHA's Heat Illness Campaign. The FPL site was chosen because the company has worked hard with their unionized employees (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) to put together a program focused on the hazards of heat stress.

"We're obviously concerned about utility workers, berry pickers, landscapers and brick layers. But our message is just as important for the baggage handlers who transport luggage across the hot tarmac at Miami International Airport or car salesmen who pace the hot asphalt lots at dealerships that line Northwest 36th Street and 27th Avenue, as well as those working on road crews in heavy safety gear revamping North Miami Avenue and I-195," Solis explained. "Statistically, we know that Latino workers are at the greatest risk of heat illness. They are more likely to work in outdoor industries such as agriculture and construction and are at greater risk of ending up hospitalized or worse from heat stroke."

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NOAA extreme heat weather alerts contain worker safety information

OSHA is partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on weather service alerts to incorporate worker safety precautions when heat alerts are issued across the United States. NOAA is also including important worker safety information on its Heat Watch Web page. Each year, thousands of outdoor workers experience heat illness, which often manifests as heat exhaustion. If not quickly addressed, heat exhaustion can become heat stroke, which killed more than 30 workers last year.

To bring greater awareness to this issue, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels participated in a June 21 conference call with meteorologists and other television and radio reporters who cover the weather to discuss how to alert outdoor workers and their employers about the dangers of extreme heat. Solis and Michaels informed the meteorologists and reporters about OSHA's National Heat Illness Campaign, offered recommendations for protection and encouraged news coverage to help spread to viewers and listeners everywhere the simple message: water, rest, shade.

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