Week of heat puts new rules for outdoor workers to the test

Oregon's agricultural workers spent the week navigating one of the longest-lasting heat waves on record, with temperatures consistently reaching near or above 100 degrees.

But they did it with more tools — and knowledge — than they had during last summer's record-breaking high temperatures.

Last June's heat wave killed nearly 100 people, including a Mid-Valley nursery worker who had just arrived from Guatemala.

At least 96 deaths:Oregon has done little to determine why people died in 2021 heat wave

OSHA in June enacted new heat rules to keep outdoor workers safer. 

Farmworkers are among hundreds of thousands of Oregon employees most exposed to heat, alongside construction workers, warehouse employees and anyone else working outside or without air conditioning.

But even with the new rules, workers and employers said compliance and safety still largely rely on personal responsibility.

Taking care of the people

By noon Thursday, temperatures hovered just above 85 degrees in Dayton — still relatively mild, said Jose Martinez, crew lead on-site at Stoller Family Estate.

But as soon as temperatures reached 90, Martinez said, he and his crew would call it a day.

The crew was taking a break, some in the shade of a tent, others in an air-conditioned van parked near the field of wine grapes they were working in. They had spent the morning spacing out canes and adjusting the guides to prevent mildew.

Air flow is good for wine grapes. It's also good for people. But even as workers made sure air was flowing through the vines, they noticed it didn't flow as freely between rows.

The air in the field, just yards away from the tent, was warmer and more stagnant, Martinez said.

Martinez works for a contract labor company, Willamette Farm Labor Contracting. Owner Zachary Ramirez said safety has always been his top priority.

If you don't treat your workers well, you won't have any left, he said, adding that he only works with farms that share his commitment to safety.

Stoller Family Estate is one such farm.

OSHA's new heat rules, which require access to water and shade and breaks at certain temperature gradients, among other things, didn't change much for them, winery vice president of communications Michelle Kaufmann said. The biggest adjustment was making a more robust written safety plan, which is one of the requirements of the new rule.

The property has an air-conditioned break room big enough for roughly 40 people and equipped with internet, a computer, a TV and plenty of water. There are also tents like the one Martinez rested in scattered throughout the property.

"It's no different than farming," Kaufmann said.

Plants need nutrients and good conditions to survive, and farmers provide those conditions. They should take care of their people, too, she said.

But Ramirez said he wanted to be clear: "Not all farms are like this."

Rules made, broken

More than half of the 61 complaints involving heat in the workplace since July 14 were made on July 26 and 27, according to Oregon OSHA spokesperson Aaron Corvin.

Workplace inspectors have spent "extra time" in the field this week looking for heat-related issues.

So far, most of the complaints have been in warehouses, restaurants and construction sites. One agricultural workplace in Hermiston is being investigated after a worker reported symptoms of heat stress July 20, before the heat wave hit, Corvin said.

"It's heartening to know that person recognized the symptoms of heat stress," Corvin said in an email to the Statesman Journal.

OSHA's heat rules kick in when temperatures reach 80 degrees. Employers are required to supply shade, water and a written safety plan, which includes a designated break schedule. When the heat index reaches 90 degrees, employers must monitor workers for signs of heat stress and be in regular communication with employees via a buddy system or through cell or radio.

Specific rest schedules change the warmer it gets. When temperatures reach 100, as they did this week, workers are required to take at least a 15-minute break every hour.

Even with rules in place, "one of our responsibilities is [knowing] our own capacity," Martinez said.

The reality of farm work, Martinez and Ramirez agreed, is that people want to keep working even in extreme conditions. It's money, Martinez said. Not everyone can afford to stop early and lose income.

That's where good supervision comes in, they said.

Ramirez has a designated safety advisor on his team. Lourdes Cortes splits her time between the office and the fields, offering training and reminding people to hydrate or wear protective clothing.

Sometimes people don't want to rest, she said. She makes sure they do.

Better prepared

Where personal responsibility or employer compliance fail, some groups have stepped in to fill the gaps.

The ARCHES Project officially launched its Fuerza Campesina program in 2021. The program's mission is to provide resources to under-housed migrant workers. But this week, staffers focused on keeping workers cool.

"We're better prepared this year," said Breezy Poynor, housing and supportive services director.

Yuleni Rodriguez and Maria Dominguez Jacobo spent Wednesday afternoon driving around Woodburn and Salem distributing water and other cooling tools to nursery workers outside in the heat.

She passed out bags containing informational fliers, sun-protecting shirts and baseball caps. Workers were especially excited about cooling compresses, kept damp and frozen in a cooler.

Rodriguez said the same thing to each worker she met: "We're just here to give you water and resources."

"Does anyone have kids?" Jacobo asked, holding an informational flier about childcare.

"Yes, but in Mexico," a worker said, to laughter.

One worker in a hoodie admitted he was hot under his layers, but said he had been drinking water "constantly." This crew usually works until 5 p.m., but would likely stop at 2 or 3 p.m. due to the temperature that day. Their boss allows them to make that call for themselves.

Rodriguez and Jacobo generally only go to places they're invited, Jacobo said. But Wednesday, they passed a group of workers tilling in a sun-baked field and pulled over.

Jacobo found the supervisor and asked permission to give out water and whatever else they had in their van.

He said no. They already had water, he told her, and he didn't want to call them all back in from the field.

"That’s what we do," Jacobo said. "Sometimes they say yes, sometimes they say no.”

When the heat rules took effect in June, the Oregon Farm Bureau told the Statesman Journal that one of its biggest objections was the rest schedule. Requiring 40 minutes of rest every hour, as the rule does when temperatures exceed 105, is effectively a "stop order," Mary Anne Cooper, vice president of governmental affairs, said at the time.

The workers interviewed and observed by the Statesman Journal this week did, indeed, end their days early to stay out of the highest temperatures. But they also started early.

The crew at the Salem nursery started an hour earlier than usual.

Martinez, the crew lead at Stoller Family Estate, started working at 5:30 a.m. Thursday — even earlier if you count the time he spent picking up his crew from their homes, he said, or the time he spent repairing the van.

"I'm the driver, the mechanic, everything," Martinez said.

Shannon Sollitt covers agricultural workers in the Mid-Willamette Valley as a corps member for Report for America, a program that aims to support local journalism and democracy by reporting on under-covered issues and communities. You may reach her at ssollitt@statesmanjournal.com.