Cruz Urias Beltran, a farmworker in Grand Island, Nebraska, collapsed and died from heat-related illness while working in a cornfield in 2018. Beltran is just one of the 384 workers who have died from environmental heat exposure in the U.S. over the past ten years, according to an investigation conducted by NPR and Columbia Journalism Investigations. The investigation reveals that there is a lack of federal regulations and enforcement to protect workers from extreme heat conditions. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has not adopted a national heat standard, resulting in inadequate protection for workers against rising temperatures. Many workers have died after not receiving enough water and scheduled breaks in shade, and OSHA often fails to penalize companies for worker deaths. Workers of color, particularly Hispanics, have been disproportionately affected by heat fatalities due to their overrepresentation in industries such as construction and agriculture. OSHA’s record-keeping on heat fatalities is also inadequate, leading to an undercount of worker deaths from heat exposure. The investigation finds that most heat-related deaths occurred on days with unusually high temperatures, emphasizing the urgent need for preventive measures. Despite knowing about the dangers of heat for decades, OSHA has not taken action to implement a heat standard. However, the agency is now considering a heat standard for the first time, prioritized by the Biden administration.
