“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.

“This heat safety ordinance will change my life,” said Filiberto Lares, who has been delivering food to airplanes for Sky Chefs at the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport for 11 years...

“People who work outside and in hot indoor environments in Phoenix suffer unacceptably during our deadly summers, with too few protections,” said Katelyn Parady, a Phoenix-based worker health and safety expert with National COSH, who assisted local workers and unions in advocating for new protections from extreme heat.

"It has been shown repeatedly that immigrants, particularly those who may not speak English and are most desperate to earn a living for their families, are often the most afraid to speak up, and therefore are most exploited and those who are exploited," says Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a worker advocacy organization.

“People who work outside and in hot indoor environments in Phoenix suffer unacceptably during our deadly summers, with too few protections,” said Katelyn Parady, a Phoenix-based worker health and safety expert with National COSH, who assisted local workers and unions in advocating for new protections from extreme heat. “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.”

Katelyn Parady with National COSH interviewed in story about the new Phoenix heat ordinance.

These immigrant workers — some who may not have legal status — also have less agency to speak up about unsafe conditions, said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb with the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

“They’re at the bottom of the ‘lowerarchy.’ And that means that they toil in the most dangerous jobs, work the longest hours and have the least ability to speak up in the face of exploitations,” she said.

“It’s hard to even describe just how intense the heat is here,” said Katelyn Parady, a Phoenix-based representative of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health. “Workers talk about getting dizzy, throwing up, working themselves into a state of exhaustion, and there were no specific protections until now.”

The bill was reintroduced to the Agriculture Committee this year. A workers’ advocacy group called WeCount spearheaded an effort to take up the issue on the county level as well. They helped push for an ordinance in Miami-Dade County that would fine employers in agriculture and construction who failed to provide water and shaded rest breaks in dangerous heat conditions. 

Darryl Alexander, adviser for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, said the plan does not establish specifics for monitoring.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the Sierra Club, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health and the Farmworker Association of Florida are among critics seeking a veto of a bill (HB 433) that would prevent local governments from putting requirements on contractors about wages and heat-exposure protections for workers.

“In passing a heartless, unnecessary and shortsighted bill, elected officials are turning their backs on workers and disregarding the dangers of working outdoors in searing heat,” said Jessica E. Martinez, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, in a statement.

In a controversial move, the Florida Legislature has passed a bill that prohibits local jurisdictions from mandating employers to provide workers with heat safety measures, such as access to water, rest and shade. This decision has sparked outrage among safety advocates like the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH).

Marcy Goldstein-Gelb is co-executive director for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, an advocacy group. She said OSHA has found companies willfully violating safety rules after deadly accidents — especially when the investigation finds that a company failed to establish a confined space entry program, necessary to keep workers safe.