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September 1, 2009
Report: More
In 2006, when the
state of Three years later,
compliance is at 84 percent, according to California Division of
Occupational Safety and Health inspection reports. "There's been kind
of a shift in the safety culture," said Erika Monterroza, spokeswoman
for Cal-OSHA. Heat-stress
training is critical, said Tricia Stever, executive director for the
Tulare County Farm Bureau. That means training for employees as well as
employers, she said. "Although it's
assumed that common sense would prevail in these matters, we all
recognize that it's easy to take for granted that everybody comes to
work prepared and hydrated," she said. "Unfortunately, the onus is on
the employer to make sure all the employees come to work with that
training."
Fines for violations A year ago,
Alfonso Avila, owner of The regulations
have gotten easier to understand, he said, but "It bothers me
that [employers] have all kinds of responsibilities," he said in
Spanish. "For example, if a worker drank [alcohol] the night before,
they will be more sensitive to the heat and sunlight. If something
happens to him, it sounds like we take the blame." Benjamin Barajas,
owner of Benjamin Contracting in Reedley, is appealing a citation his
company was given last year. Meeting the state's shade requirements can
be an impossible task, he said. "Imagine when you
have a long field ... with little space between the lines," he said in
Spanish. "Where do you put the shade?" Salinas-based Gene
Fresh Inc. ran afoul of state regulations when it ran out of drinking
cups on the job, employee Michell Torres said. "But we had
12-ounce bottles of cold water there for them," he said. "I just think
that was kind of unreasonable."
Employer challenges Silas Shawver,
staff attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance, acknowledged that
regulations can be confusing. One reason: Outdoor businesses are not
created equal. Those working in
orchards may be in relative shade most of the day, Shawver said, while
those in fields are constantly under the sun. Regulations require that
shade be within a certain distance of workers, he said, but that can be
difficult to provide for those who move quickly down long rows. Training also
becomes difficult when employees are constantly coming and going, said
Luis Gonzalez Jr., who works for Latino Farm Labor Service of Visalia.
The company was cited last September by Cal-OSHA for not meeting
training requirements. "Since it's
seasonal work and at-will employment, [workers] leave as they please,"
Gonzalez said. "When they leave and we hire new people, we have to do
training for anyone we hire. It's on almost a weekly basis that it needs
to be done." Some companies
have chosen to hire labor contractors so they don't have to deal with
the training requirements. That's what Gene Fresh did after being cited
for two heat-related issues while operating out of "[Using
contractors] is a little more expensive, but we put the onus on them [to
meet the state's requirements]," Torres said. Macedonio Acevedo,
a farmworker from Farmersville, said workers remain at risk despite the
improved compliance levels. Companies may have workers sign a training
form, he said, but there's sometimes no discussion of heat illness and
safety precautions. "You know, in our
pay stubs, there is a message that [says], in case we need to, we can
take a 5-minute break if we feel sick," Acevedo said in Spanish. "But it
is not enforced. They want us to work as machines." Shade is a
constant issue at work sites, he said. If an employer puts up a tent, he
said, it often isn't big enough for all the workers on break. Shawver
also sees room for improvement. "A lot of people
either don't have common sense, or they're so concerned about cutting
corners that they don't want to take the time to make sure workers have
the right training," he said.
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