Tuesday Press Call to Unveil Data Showing That Outdoor Workers in Every Florida County Face Dangerous Heat Conditions
Report Contains Analysis of Temperature Data for All 67 Florida Counties
Oct. 29, 2018
WHAT: Telephone press call to unveil new research showing that outdoor workers in every county in Florida this summer faced dangerous heat – that is, heat above safe limits. A new report being released by Public Citizen, Farmworker Association of Florida and an Emory University researcher contains an analysis of temperature data for all 67 Florida counties from May 1 to Sept. 30, highlighting where workers suffered the most. Many – but not all – of the counties where workers are most affected are in south and central Florida, as well as the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.
Laboring in dangerously hot conditions puts workers at risk for heat stress, heat stroke, exhaustion, cramps and severe rashes. In Florida, as climate change leads to hotter days and more of them, outdoor workers increasingly will suffer. Florida already has one of the highest rates of heat-related hospitalizations in the nation.
The report also reviews findings from a recent study conducted by researchers at Emory University and the Farmworker Association of Florida showing the health harms to individual farmworkers from working in excessive heat. Many workers in the study met the criteria for acute kidney injury on at least one of the three study days, and most were dehydrated.
Public Citizen and more than 130 other groups this summer urged the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to implement a federal standard to protect workers from the dangers of extreme heat.
WHEN: 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Oct. 30
WHERE: (800) 875-3456
Verbal Passcode: OWEN 40801
WHO: David Arkush, managing director, Public Citizen’s Climate Program
Dr. Cheryl Holder, interim president, Florida Clinicians for Climate Action
Valerie Mac, Ph.D., RN, assistant professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University
Jonathan Fried, executive director, WeCount!
Jeanette Smith, executive director, South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice
Jeannie Economos, pesticide safety and environmental health project coordinator, Farmworker Association of Florida
