Heatstroke death of Baltimore worker during trash collection prompts calls for workplace safety

Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — Elected officials and union leaders in Baltimore are calling for safer and more humane working conditions for the city’s public works employees after a man died from heat-related illness last week while collecting trash on a hot day. Critics say the recent death of Ronald Silver II is a tragic result of a longstanding toxic culture within the agency. It also raises concerns about the health and safety of sanitation workers as record-shattering heat waves are becoming more common across the globe. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Acting Department of Public Works Director Khalil Zaied said their agencies are investigating the death.