California Labor Law Taking the Heat
This was aptly and tragically demonstrated earlier this month when at least one of two farm workers allegedly succumbed to heat exhaustion and died during extreme conditions in Tulare and Fresno counties. According to the Visalia Times-Delta (7/11/13), a 30-year-old worker collapsed in a field while loading melons in the Coalinga region, with another succumbing in extreme heat while inspecting irrigation lines in a Richgrove orchard.
Both men died. The irrigation inspector, according to reports, was 45 years of age and preliminary investigation suggests the man, Juan Ochoa, may have perished due to ongoing health issues. Laboratory results were still pending, and while heat stroke was not a major consideration at the time of the initial investigation, the impact of extreme heat and working conditions remained a possibility until conclusively ruled out. Ochoa’s employer, Etchegaray Farms LLC, was issued an Order Prohibiting Use by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), effectively stopping work at the operation until compliance could be achieved.
In the first case, Cal/OSHA was investigating the potential for a heat-related death, which would be a violation of California labor code.
Maria Bautista knows all about heat. In comments appearing in the Visalia Times-Delta, Bautista reflected on her days as a teenager picking grapes on a farm in extreme heat. “They were very strict in the fields. They didn’t let us drink water, they didn’t like us spending time eating,” she told the Visalia Times-Delta. Now 35, Bautista is married and now lives in Chicago.
But she recalls those times - days of extreme conditions and employers racking up violations to California labor employment law. “It was very tough,” Bautista said. “They didn’t give us breaks, at all. You had to start working at 6 in the morning and stop at 3 or 4 [in the afternoon], even on hot days.”
If there is good news - even in the face of two deaths this month - it’s that overall the situation appears to be improving. The state brought in statutes known as Heat Illness Prevention Standards, which became part of the California labor code in 2006. Bautista, back in the state visiting her mother who continues to toil in the picking industry as a supervisor, noted that workers are more closely monitored and especially when conditions reach the extremes seen this summer. Workers are encouraged to take breaks, rehydrate and rest in shaded tents.
It should also be noted that restrictions imposed by Cal/OSHA on Etchegaray Farms were quickly lifted when the operator became compliant with California and labor law. And grower’s trade groups and associations report a move toward more responsibility in the fields, such as starting and ending the picking day early, and sending workers home at 2:00 p.m. when temperatures climb past 100 degrees, or increased humidity makes it feel that hot.
That hasn’t placated the president of the United Farm Workers. In a written statement, Arturo Rodriguez had this to say following the death of Ochoa on July 5: “This only proves that whatever the state is doing to protect these workers is obviously not working. With temperatures continuing to be over 100 degrees in the week to come, we need to see immediate compliance with all laws by all employers, which the state should encourage with aggressive enforcement of California’s Heat Illness Prevention regulation.”
It is not known if the families of the two men who died are considering a California labor lawsuit. According to industry leaders, it is the responsibility of the growers and labor contractors hired to source workers, to provide water, sufficient shade and breaks according to California state labor laws.
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