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YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC June 5, 2008
State
adopts heat rules
After years of contentious arguments between business and labor groups, the state has adopted a new rule designed to prevent workers from suffering heat-related illnesses during the summer months. Beginning July 5, the rule requires employers to: * On days when temperatures require preventive measures, increase the volume of water available to employees. * Train employees and supervisors to recognize heat-related illness and what to do if someone has symptoms. * Have the ability to appropriately respond to any employee with symptoms of an illness. The final rule is a middle-of-the road proposal that addresses the concerns of both employers and their employees, said Judy Schurke, director of the Department of Labor and Industries, which enforces worker safety laws. Employers testified during the rulemaking process that they already train employees and provide extra water in extreme conditions. Schurke said the rule is aimed at those who don't take the extra steps. "We have many employers in Washington who do the right thing all the time for their workers, including protecting them from heat stress. This rule addresses those employers who don't," she said.
The proposal sets various "heat triggers" for employer action. For
example, when the temperature hits 89 degrees in the direct sun and
workers are wearing a L&I started developing a new rule several years ago after studying workers' compensation claims and deaths from heat stress or stroke. Labor groups have long advocated a tougher rule while building contractors and some grower groups said existing precautions on the books were sufficient. A similar emergency heat rule has been in effect since 2006 and was adopted after a 64-year-old Moxee farm worker was found unconscious in a hop field. The death was recorded as heat stroke and the high temperature that day was 99 degrees. The foreman had not brought water for the employees that morning and the farm worker had consumed two gallons of his own water by noon. The Washington State Labor Council called the new heat-stress rule "a major victory." The Building Industry Association of Washington, the leading opponent to the rule, had no immediate comment.
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