PROVIDENCE, RI – With Rhode Island under a heat advisory this week and temperatures forecast to reach 100°F, U.S. Senator Jack Reed is teaming up with several lawmakers and labor unions to protect the health and safety of workers who are exposed to dangerous heat conditions.

When temperatures rise above 90°F, there is a 5-6 percent increase in workplace injuries, according to the Workers Compensation Research Institute. And failure to implement simple heat safety measures costs U.S. employers billions of dollars every year in lost productivity.

Senator Reed is joining forces with U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and several colleagues on the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act. The bill is named in honor of Asunción Valdivia who died in 2004 after picking grapes for ten hours straight in 105°F temperatures. Mr. Valdivia fell unconscious and instead of calling an ambulance, his employer told Mr. Valdivia’s son to drive his father home. On his way home, he died of heat stroke at the age of 53. Mr. Valdivia’s death was completely preventable, yet his story is not unique.

The Asunción Valdivia Heat Stress Injury, Illness, and Fatality Prevention Act will protect workers against occupational exposure to excessive heat by:

• Requiring OSHA to establish an enforceable standard to protect indoor and outdoor workers in jobs at risk for hazardous heat stress with measures like paid breaks in cool spaces, access to water, limitations on time exposed to heat, and emergency response for workers with heat-related illness.

• Directing employers to provide training and hazard advisories to their employees about heat stress in the language their employees understand and in a format appropriate for their literacy and education levels. 

“Asunción Valdivia’s death was completely preventable, yet his story is sadly not unique. As the planet continues to grow hotter, there is still no federally enforceable heat safety standard for workers. That’s not just dangerous for the farm workers and construction workers who work all day outside in the sun — it’s also dangerous for the factory and restaurant workers in boiling warehouses and kitchens,” said Senator Padilla. “Every family deserves to know that even on the hottest day, their loved one will come back home. A national heat safety standard would provide that peace of mind and finally give workers the safety they deserve.”

“Excessive heat can lead to illnesses, injuries, and sometimes death. As temperatures continue to soar, Congress must strengthen heat protections for workers. This bill would set reasonable standards for workers in high-heat environments to ensure access to adequate shade and water,” said Senator Reed. “Workers shouldn’t have to risk heat-related death just to do their jobs. Passing this bill will lead to safer working conditions for all.”

Thousands of workers are injured on the job annually due to extreme heat. According to the New York Times 2021 report: Work Injuries Tied to Heat Are Vastly Undercounted, Study Finds: “extreme heat isn’t just a threat to outdoor workers, but also those who work indoors in places like manufacturing plants and warehouses. Those additional injuries mean lost wages and higher medical bills for low-income workers across a huge range of industries, widening the pay gap as temperatures rise.”

Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA-28) is leading companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2024 was the warmest year on record for the United States. The past decade, including 2024, was the hottest on record.

Heat-related illnesses can cause heat cramps, organ damage, heat exhaustion, stroke, and even death.

Between 1992 and 2017, heat stress injuries killed 815 U.S. workers and seriously injured more than 70,000, according to OSHA.

The failure to implement simple heat safety measures costs U.S. employers nearly $100 billion every year in lost productivity.

From 2011-2020, heat exposure killed at least 400 workers and caused nearly 34,000 injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work; both are likely vast underestimates. Farm workers and construction workers suffer the highest incidence of heat illness. And no matter what the weather is outside, workers in factories, commercial kitchens, and other workplaces, including ones where workers must wear personal protective equipment (PPE), can face dangerously high heat conditions all year round.

The Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act has the support of a broad coalition of over 250 groups, including: Rural Coalition, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, AFL-CIO, UNITE HERE!, Communication Workers of America, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Sierra Club, United Farm Workers, Farmworker Justice, Public Citizen, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Union of Concerned Scientists, United Steelworkers, National Resources Defense Council, American Lung Association, and Health Partnerships.

“Every worker safety rule in America is written in blood,” said UFW President Teresa Romero. “The UFW has been fighting for heat safety protections for decades. Over 20 years later, Asuncion Valdivia’s death still hurts. There are so many other farm workers — many whose names we do not know — who have also been killed by extreme heat on the job in the years since. Enough is enough. Every farm worker deserves access to water, shade, and paid rest breaks — it’s past time for Congress get this done.”

“Too many workers – including AFSCME members – have lost their lives on the job as a result of blistering heat waves and record-breaking temperatures,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “As the number of heat-related illnesses and fatalities continue to rise, it is well past time we adopt nationwide safeguards to better protect the workers who maintain our infrastructure, keep our streets clean, harvest our food, and keep our economy moving.”

“For the Steelworkers Union, we represent workers in manufacturing settings and in a host of other areas where not only is it hot outside, but the areas that they work around are as hot as up to 3,000 degrees and they must wear protective equipment. The Asunción Valdivia Heat, Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act is important because it will provide a basic standard for not just outdoor, but indoor workplaces as well to ensure that there is proper rest breaks and the ability to stay cool. The Steelworkers are absolutely supportive of this bill and are going to work with Republicans and Democrats to ensure that heat illness is the last thing a worker should worry about,” said Roy Houseman, Legislative Director of United Steelworkers.

“Everyone deserves safe working conditions, but powerful corporations have not done enough to protect their workers from hot working environments, exacerbated by the climate crisis,” said Liz Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO. “Extreme heat is increasingly causing indoor and outdoor workers to collapse or even die on the job, and our union family has already lost too many members to preventable, work-related heat illness. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) must issue a strong heat rule, not a weak one, to ensure workers have specific protections they need and to be able to raise unsafe working conditions without fear of retaliation.”

“It’s long past time for meaningful legislation to protect Teamsters and other workers from the effects of prolonged heat exposure and dangerous heat levels while at work,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Paid breaks in cool spaces, access to water, and limitations on time exposed to heat are simple common sense steps that should be mandated immediately. Waiting to implement these measures is unacceptable and will result in the further loss of lives.”