Ana Maria of Costa Farms knows all about that. “Costa, with their lawyers, led the campaign” for that ban.

“I have suffered from extreme heat at work,” in rural areas of Miami-Dade County. “Once they took me to a nurse at work but the nurse wasn’t there,” she said in Spanish through an interpreter at NACOSH’s Zoom press conference. “In South Florida” over the last several years “34 workers have died and there were 11,700 visits to the emergency room.” More than half were in Miami-Dade,

When asked about what it takes to get companies with a poor history of worker safety to protect employees, Jessica Martinez, co-executive director of COSH, said change is needed from all fronts, including having government agencies like Occupational Health and Safety Administration conduct routine inspections.

“The latest data show an increase in workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses,” said Jessica E. Martinez of National COSH.

COSH added Florence Hardwoods to this year’s list of companies because of the death of 16-year-old Michael Schuls. Schuls was asphyxiated when he was pinned in a wood-stacking machine while trying to unstack it in the lumber processing company’s planing building on June 29, 2023, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Jessica E. Martinez, co-executive director of National COSH, says that Valor earned its place in this year’s “Dirty Dozen” report for its egregious harm to workers. 

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) released its annual “Dirty Dozen” report Thursday, highlighting a group of 12 “unsafe and reckless employers, risking the lives of workers and communities by failing to eliminate known, preventable hazards.”

According to the National COSH, several of the entities on the list also engaged in harassment and retaliation against workers who spoke out about their safety concerns.

“This is an exciting and challenging time for U.S. workers,” said Jessica E. Martinez, MPH, co-executive director of National COSH. “It’s exciting to see a renewed interest in joining unions, participating in workers’ centers and connecting with advocacy campaigns. The challenge facing workers who are fighting for something better is that conditions in U.S. workplaces are getting worse.”

“Workers die and get injured when management basically fails to provide a safe workplace,” said Jessica Martinez, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health. “Doing a job safely in construction and other industries requires time, money, management, attention and other resources. So when management decides not to spend that time, money and attention, then workers end up paying the price.”
 

Katelyn Parady, a Phoenix-based Staffer for the National Council for Occupational Safety & Health (National COSH), joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about the recent city ordinance in Phoenix that will provide protection from extreme heat in the workplace.

Don’t see an event in your area? The National Council for Occupational Health and Safety offers suggestions on how to organize one of your own.
 

“It’s no surprise that Gov. DeSantis signed this cruel and terrible bill late at night; that’s what you do when you’re embarrassed about what you’re signing,” said Jessica E. Martinez, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH), a labor-oriented organization.

“It’s no surprise that Gov. DeSantis signed this cruel and terrible bill late at night; that’s what you do when you’re embarrassed about what you’re signing,” said Jessica E. Martinez, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH), a labor-oriented organization.

“With a trusted worker representative onsite, safety inspections can more effectively capture the firsthand knowledge workers have about work processes and potential hazards,” says Jessica E. Martinez, co-executive director of National COSH. “A representative selected by workers can also bridge language barriers and reduce the fear of retaliation, which is often a major barrier in gathering accurate information about workplace conditions.”

Katelyn Parady is a member of National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH). She lives in Phoenix and was a leading advocate in getting the city council to pass their heat protection ordinance last month.

“I have to say that the advocacy in Phoenix (Arizona) was energized and absolutely inspired by those workers who were working so fiercely for water, shade and rest there in Miami-Dade.” That’s a reference to Miami-Dade’s Board of County Commissioners, who attempted last fall to create a local ordinance for heat protections. But that didn’t happen.

“This ordinance is a critical first step toward getting workers lifesaving protections and holding employers accountable for safety during heat season,” Katelyn Parady, a Phoenix-based worker health and safety expert with the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, said in a press release.

Worker advocate Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, cited a real example of third-party participation aiding OSHA.

Katelyn Parady, a Phoenix-based expert on worker health and safety with the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), played a pivotal role in advocating for these new extreme heat protection measures alongside unions and local workers. Parady emphasized the ordinance’s importance, stating, “This ordinance is a critical first step toward getting workers lifesaving protections and holding employers accountable for safety during heat season. It’s also a model for how local governments can leverage their contracts to protect the workers who keep their communities running from climate change dangers.”

“The recent tragedy in Baltimore is a terrible reminder about the thousands of U.S. workers, each year, who go to work but never come home,” National COSH Co-Executive Director Jessica E. Martinez said in a statement. “Tens of thousands more die from long-term exposure to workplace hazards, and millions more become sick or injured. By giving workers a stronger voice in inspecting their workplaces and correcting preventable hazards, OSHA’s new walkaround rule can play an important role in reducing the risk of occupational illnesses, injuries and fatalities.”

Employers should involve workers in heat illness prevention efforts, said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the Somerville, Massachusetts-based National Council for Occupational Safety and Health. She suggested that employers have a health and safety committee that includes workers to identify heat-related hazards.