Farm contractor shut down over heat violations had no license

By Susan Ferriss

One of three farm labor contractors shut down recently for allegedly failing to protect workers during blistering heat was operating without a state license, occupational safety officials said Monday.

The license of Stockton-based Estrada Farm Labor Contractor expired last November and the company had not renewed it despite two warning letters, Cal-OSHA spokesman Dean Fryer said.

The agency took the rare step of immediately shutting down Estrada on Saturday after inspectors found the company didn't provide shade in 95-degree heat and had not trained workers on how to respond to an emergency.

"When it hits 85 degrees, shade always has to be up," Fryer said, referring to a new rule this year for outdoor work sites. Proper water and training are also required.

Because it had no license, Fryer said, Estrada is now under investigation by the labor commissioner's office.

Cal-OSHA has warned that it will consider closing businesses immediately if they are found in violation of heat-stress prevention regulations.

The agency in the past rarely exercised this right, and often gave businesses a chance to correct violations. If a business is closed, it has 24 hours to appeal the decision.

Estrada had four workers preparing a tomato field in the same Stockton-Farmington region where farmworker Maria Vasquez Jimenez, 17, collapsed in a vineyard and died a year ago. Witnesses say she was not taken to a hospital for 90 minutes. The San Joaquin County district attorney in April charged three of her employers with involuntary manslaughter.

A second company shut down Saturday in the same region, Jose Alfaro Labor Contractor, was cited for failing to protect five employees thinning grape vines in 100-degree heat .

Salida-based Alfaro failed to provide proper shade and water and training on how to respond to an emergency, Fryer said.

In August 2008, Alfaro was cited and then paid a $750 fine for failure to properly train workers, Fryer said.

Neither company could be reached for comment.

Last Wednesday, the Hocier Rodriguez labor contracting company in Coachella Valley was shut down after inspectors cited it for providing no shade or training for workers in 104-degree heat.