President Biden announces new actions to protect workers and communities from extreme heat
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Just one week after a Yuma farmworker died from working in the fields of Dome Valley, President Biden announced new actions to protect workers and communities from extreme heat.
25-year-old Dario Mendoza died after collapsing in a Yuma agriculture field last week during a record heat wave.
The President asked the Department of Labor to issue a first-ever Hazard Alert for heat and announced new investments to protect communities.
Biden said millions of Americans are currently experiencing the effects of extreme heat, which is growing in intensity, frequency, and duration due to the climate crisis.
- President Biden has asked the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue the first-ever Hazard Alert for heat, and DOL will also ramp up enforcement to protect workers from extreme heat. For years, heat has been the number one cause of weather-related deaths in America. And workers, including farmworkers, farmers, firefighters, and construction workers, are disproportionately impacted by extreme heat. Since 2011, more than 400 workers have died due to environmental heat exposure, and thousands more are hospitalized every year. The Hazard Alert will reaffirm that workers have heat-related protections under federal law. As part of the alert, the Department of Labor will provide information on what employers can and should be doing now to protect their workers, help ensure employees are aware of their rights, including protections against retaliation, and highlight the steps the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is currently taking to protect workers.
Additionally, the Department of Labor will ramp up enforcement of heat-safety violations, increasing inspections in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture, while OSHA continues to develop a national standard for workplace heat-safety rules.
Mendoza leaves behind his partner and two children.
Mendoza’s gofundme account can be found HERE.
